Cyprus Weather

I was just about up to date with my paperwork and then BANG the Cyprus weather took a turn for the worse.

Thunder, lightening and heavy rain. Such weather is not uncommon in Cyprus especially after the long, hot summers but yesterday it rained hard ALL day and late into the early hours of this morning. Rained again for much of today but not nearly as heavy as it was yesterday. Temperatures are also well down, certainly compared with recent years (I was sunbathing on Christmas Eve last year). As properties in Cyprus don’t normally have centrally heating it is important that owners have some form of heating for winter guests. Most air conditioning units will blow hot air but it is important they are in working order throughout the year in case of a sudden cold spell. Alternatively halogen heaters can be used and even though gas heaters are cheaper to run they are not recommended as they can create problems with damp. Roads flooded, villas and apartments damaged and grey skies (rare in Cyprus) to boot.
Last night I was at a top floor apartment with a sizeable puddle of water in the lounge. Looks like the driving rain had brought water in from under the door. Today I had calls from tenants and property maintenance companies in the Kapparis and Paralimni areas. Modern apartment blocks with the roofs leaking and ground floor apartments flooded out. Fortunately as most villas and apartments don’t have fitted carpets it means the damage caused by the almost unseasonal Cyprus weather is relatively minor.

The danger from forest fires has all but vanished following a single days rain and the farmers will be much happier now.

In the summer I hardly ever look at the weather forecasts as it never changes, hot, very hot and sunny with no chance of rain. Even outside the summer months the chances of rain are quite low. The forecast may show several days in ‘winter’ with 20% to 40% chance of rain and even though this is much higher than the 0% in summer it generally means it probably will NOT rain. Cyprus weather doesn’t generally stay bad for long, unlike some countries I could mention, and the forecast looks to be much improved over the next week or so.