Severe thunderstorms lashed the Greek capital on Wednesday and the Athens National Observatory weather service Meteo warns that they may also be accompanied by hail in the afternoon and evening.
The main characteristic of the storms is intense electrical activity with a great many bolts of lightning and strong, gusty winds, Meteo said.
The Athens National Observatory has estimated that over 10,000 lightning strikes have occurred throughout Greece since Sunday.
The combination of hot, humid air masses with the high atmospheric instability over Greece has led to a large number of thunderstorms occurring throughout the region.
Evening thunderstorms in Greece in June are natural and expected, due to the high atmospheric instability observed throughout the land every year, according to the Observatory.
However, it is unusual that the storms are accompanied by large hailstones up to 5 to 6 cm (2.3 inches), which happened in several areas on Sunday, for the most part in the regions of Ioannina, Pella and Kozani.
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