Strong storms bring down trees, block roads

Strong storms on Wednesday caused some power outages in areas of Nicosia, where trees fell.

According to the electricity authority (EAC) spokeswoman Christina Papadopoulou, trees fell in Kaimakli in two locations cutting power lines.

Trucks arrived at the scene to help clear the branches and replace the cables.

A yellow weather warning had been in effect until 5pm on Wednesday due to the intense storms in the mountains and inland areas.

Earlier, part of the road between Morphou and the Kykkos monastery was closed at 1pm as storms hit the mountains.

The road was closed near the Xerarkaka picnic site, near the village of Orkonta, as torrential rain caused a landslide and high winds caused a tree to fall into the road.

A team removed the felled tree, while the police have arrived at the scene to provide assistance to motorists.

The storms come after the met office issued a yellow weather warning until Wednesday evening with rain, showers and thunderstorms and hailstones forecast inland and in the mountains.

The precipitation failed to bring temperatures down, however, with temperatures reaching a high of 39 degrees Celsius inland, 38 degrees Celsius on the north coast, 32 degrees Celsius on the west coast, 34 degrees Celsius on the rest of the coasts, and 29 degrees Celsius in the mountains.

Warm and clear mornings broken up by potentially rainy and stormy afternoons will remain the rhythm of Thursday and Friday, with mostly clear weather and the possibility of cloud cover expected for Saturday.

Temperatures are expected to remain stable until at least Saturday.