As a yellow weather warning for high winds remained in place on Sunday and as the strength of them picked up in the afternoon, problems were seen around the island, especially in Nicosia.

Photographs on social media showed trees that had fallen, solar panels that had been swept off rooves and Christmas decorations that had blown over. In the north the cladding from a building even fell onto one next to it.

The fallen tress in some incidents landed on cars, causing further damage.

According to the fire service spokesman Andreas Kettis, strong winds blowing in various areas had seen it respond to 70 incidents by 5pm, mostly in Nicosia.

He said most concerned falling trees and moving them from public or private places, moving other materials, such as awnings, moving scaffolding and photovoltaics, as well as trees falling on electricity cables.

The most serious, in the centre of Nicosia near the agriculture ministry, had seen one person inside their car by a falling tree. She was later removed from the vehicle by firefighters and taken by ambulance to Nicosia general.

In a second incident an electricity cable fell onto a car. The driver remained inside until an Electricity Authority crew arrived, cut the power and enabled him to leave the car.

He said firefighters who were not working on Sunday afternoon had had to be called in to help with all the incidents.

Police later issued a warning to drivers on the Akaki-Kokkinotrimithia-Nicosia road to be cautious as the strong winds had blown various items of debris onto the road and the roadside.

In the north a roof blew off a building and onto the road at the Kyrenia roundabout, closing it to traffic.

Electricity Authority spokeswoman Christina Papadopoulos said the wind had also caused power cuts in various places in Nicosia, Limassol, Famagusta and Larnaca.

She called on those affected to be patient as crews were out but their work was made more difficult by the strong winds.

The winds will not weaken until after midnight, the Met Office’s Iasonas Christodoulou said, although the cold weather would remain in place until Tuesday.

He said the temperature would drop to between 6C and 8C inland, 8C on the beach and -2C in the mountains.

Further snowfall is also expected in the coming days.