Heat wave to grind on, orange alert in force (Updated)

The heatwave is expected to continue until Wednesday inclusive, though high temperatures are forecast for the rest of the week, the met office said on Monday.

Τhe meteorology department’s latest orange weather warning for high temperature, covering the period between 10pm Monday until 5pm Tuesday, says temperatures are expected to be around 43C inland, 39C along the north coast and 34C in the higher mountainous areas.

The same weather pattern is expected until Wednesday inclusive, with a slight drop in temperatures from Thursday which will nevertheless remain over the seasonal average.

According to senior meteorology official, Panayiotis Michael, the average temperature for July for the past four years has been 39C which is over the original seasonal average of 37C.

Michael told the Cyprus Mail that, in line with the guidelines by the World Meteorological Organisation, the seasonal average for the period between 1991 and 2020 is to change to 38C to better reflect the changing weather patterns of the past decades.

In recent days, smoke and ash has also been noticed in many areas on the island believed to be from the wildfires that have been raging since last week along Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.

The met office told the Cyprus Mail that the smoke from the wildfires is being carried to the island through northerly winds but does not affect the lower atmosphere layer.

On Monday the temperature inland was 42C, around 37C on the coast and 35C in the mountains.

On Tuesday the temperature is set to rise to 43C inland, around 39 C on the north coast, 36C on the rest of the coastal areas and around 34 C on the west coast and the higher mountainous areas.

Clouds are expected on Friday and Saturday, mainly in the higher mountainous areas with a small temperature drop but increased levels of relative humidity.