Weather service upgrades warning for Storm Oliver

An emergency weather warning for the weekend was upgraded on Saturday noon from “worsening weather” to “dangerous weather phenomena,” as Storm Oliver (also called Bettina) moves from the Adriatic Sea toward Greece, raising wind velocity to nine and locally to 10 on the Beaufort scale, the National Meteorological Service (EMY) said.

EMY said that strong winds will affect nearly all of Greece, while several regions – western and northern Greece, and eastern and southern islands – will experience torrential rain and thunderstorms as of Saturday night, with the rest of the country will experience milder phenomena overnight to Sunday.

Higher elevations on the mainland will see snowfall (500-700 meters above sea level), while some snow will also occur at lower elevations. The regions that will be affected include Thrace, Macedonia, and temperorarily Epirus. 

On Saturday night, temperatures will drop significantly, between eight and 10 degrees Celsius in the Ionian region and the mainland, and by four to six degrees Celsius in other regions.

Wind velocity is expected to drop as of Sunday afternoon.

[AMNA]