Thursday, April 2 – The island of Rhodes has been experiencing power outages, fallen trees and roads littered with sand and debris after the severe weather front dubbed Erminio hit the island yesterday afternoon and evening.

The wind intensity reached 9 Beaufort with gusts as high as 11 Beaufort, while heavy rainfall occurred during the night. From the very beginning, the Municipality and Regional services, the Fire Department, the Police and the Civil Protection volunteer groups were put on alert. The severe storm conditions were so intense that shortly before 23:00, a 112 emergency message was broadcast to the population to restrict travel to absolutely necessary activities.

Many regions in Greece, including islands in the Ionian and Aegean Seas, are reporting severe damage from the storm, including, sadly, the death of a man in his 50s who was swept away by floodwaters in Nea Makri, near Athens.

On Thassos, the torrential rain and intense gusts of gale-force wind are also causing damage, with flooding, power outages in areas and trees being felled, including three brought down in the settlement of Kavaviti.

Ferries have been tied up at Attica’s main ports of Piraeus, Rafina and Lavrio. The sailing ban is also in force at the eastern port of Volos, which connects the islands of the Sporades to the central mainland, and on the Kavala-Prinos route linking the mainland with the island of Thassos in the northern Aegean.

On Crete, a Saharan dust storm has enveloped the island, turning the sky dark orange.

The weather instability across the country is forecast to continue up to the weekend, with rains and storms mainly in the Aegean and Crete, while in the mainland there will be localised showers. During the weekend, and especially from Sunday, the phenomena will be limited.

From the beginning of next week, as we approach Easter, the forecast is for spring-like weather, sunshine and temperatures above 20 degrees Celsius.