Civil defence moved on Friday to explain its decision to send a preventive CY-Alert message over a yellow weather warning, after the nationwide notification included areas that recorded no rainfall at all.

Civil defence spokesman Panayiotis Liasides said the message fell under the system’s fourth category, described as a “public safety message,” distinct from an emergency alert accompanied by a siren.

“We spoke with the met office, and given the situation, it was judged necessary to send the message. It was not, however, an emergency message”, he said.

Liasides said the decision followed severe weather already recorded in Akamas and Polis Chrysochous, with forecasts indicating the conditions would spread from Paphos eastward towards Famagusta.

He said future yellow warnings would not automatically trigger an alert message, with each case assessed individually.

Rainfall data appeared to support some of the public scepticism, with the Athalassa station in Nicosia and the port of Limassol both recording zero rainfall in the twenty-four hours after the alert, while Paphos airport recorded just 0.3 millimetres.

The heaviest rain fell in the west, with close to 24 millimetres recorded in Kathikas and around 26 millimetres at Larnaca airport, where a flight bound for the city was forced to divert temporarily to Paphos.

Liasides acknowledged the risk that frequent alerts could dull public attention over time.

“What matters is that people read the message and, if there’s nothing they need to do and it’s purely for information, they’ve been informed and that’s where it ends”, he said.