Greece’s national weather service has issued an extraordinary bulletin warning of heavy rain and thunderstorms across much of the country on Sunday, November 1, and Monday, November 2, with a chance of heavy hail.
The Hellenic National Meteorological Service, known by its Greek initials EMY, issued the bulletin on Saturday, October 31. It said the bad weather will begin in the early hours of Sunday and last at least until Monday, mainly in western and northern Greece and on the islands of the eastern Aegean.
The General Secretariat for Civil Protection in Greece said it had told state services, regional authorities and municipalities to be on heightened readiness to respond quickly to any damage.
Where storms are expected on Sunday
According to the bulletin, locally heavy rain and thunderstorms are forecast on Sunday:
Ionian islands: from the early hours until midday.
Epirus, western Central Greece and the western and southern Peloponnese: from the early morning until the afternoon. Epirus is the mountainous region of northwestern Greece, and Central Greece is known in Greek as Sterea Ellada.
Central and eastern Macedonia: from the morning until late at night.
Islands of the northern and eastern Aegean: from the afternoon until late at night.
Dodecanese: from the afternoon. The Dodecanese is the island group in the southeastern Aegean that includes Rhodes and Kos.
Monday’s forecast
On Monday, the bulletin forecasts heavy rain and storms on the Ionian islands at times from the morning, and in Epirus, western Central Greece and the western Peloponnese from the afternoon until late at night.
Storms are also expected in the Dodecanese at times until the evening.
The bulletin does not list Attica, the region around Athens, or Crete among the areas expected to see locally severe weather.
The warning comes weeks after flash floods on Rhodes swept cars toward the sea and left one man dead.
Greece has faced repeated storm alerts over the past year, including when Storm Byron brought flood warnings to Central Macedonia and the Dodecanese last December, and a storm system put seven regions under a red code alert in January.
Civil Protection advice
The General Secretariat for Civil Protection urged the public to be particularly careful and to take self-protection measures.
It advised people in affected areas to secure loose objects, make sure gutters and drainpipes are clear, and avoid crossing streams and torrents on foot or by car during storms and for several hours afterward. It warned of particular danger where roads cross torrents with no bridge.
The agency also told people to avoid outdoor work and activities at sea and along the coast during storms because of the risk of lightning, to take shelter in a building or car during hail, and to stay away from large trees, hanging signs and balconies where objects could fall.
Drivers caught in a storm should pull over away from trees, stay inside with their hazard lights on and avoid flooded roads, the agency said.
Flooding remains a particular concern in Greece. Three years on, Thessaly is still repairing infrastructure damaged by Storm Daniel’s floods in 2023.
EMY will continue to update its forecasts in its regular weather bulletins.
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