Works halted in the mountains after record high temperatures

Heavy and medium labour has been suspended in the mountains on Tuesday where an orange weather warning remained in force as temperatures rose to record high levels.

The alert has been in force since 9pm on Monday and will remain until 6pm on Tuesday.

The met service has also issued a yellow weather warning for the same time period for inland regions, where temperatures rose to 45C on Monday.

But it was in the higher mountains that residents experienced record high levels.

According to KitasWeather, the maximum temperature recorded at Prodromos forest reached 38.4C on Monday, the highest recorded by the station since it was installed in 1958. The previous record was 38.2 on September 4, 2020.

A new high record was also reached at the 2017 weather station at the Jubilee Hotel in Troodos where the maximum temperature reached 33.2C.

On Tuesday, temperatures were expected to reach around 42C inland, 31C on the west coast and 35C on the south and east coasts as well as in the mountainous areas.

At night, temperatures will drop to 24C inland and 25C in the coastal areas and higher mountains.

In view of the extremely high temperatures in the higher mountain areas, the labour inspection department put a halt to heavy and medium work as well as the delivery of food and other products with two-wheel vehicles between 12 and 4pm on Tuesday.

The announcement clarified that heavy work is considered to be intensive manual work such as digging, asphalt paving or the operating machines weighing over 15kg, while medium labour refers among others to fencing, painting, flooring, electrical work and plumbing.

It added that companies and self-employed persons must measure the temperature and humidity in the places of work and adjust their operations accordingly.

Delivery services have also been banned during a yellow weather alert based on a relevant cabinet decision.

Meanwhile, the risk of forest fires is red all day on Tuesday.