Weather to deteriorate in countdown to New Year

Following a dip in temperatures after weeks of unseasonably fair conditions, the weather is set to deteriorate further in the countdown to the New Year.

The national weather service has forecast significant drops in temperature from Saturday night along with gale force winds in the Aegean and heavy rainfall and storms in the central and southern Aegean. Snowfall is expected in mountainous parts of the country. 

Winds are to reach 8 on the Beaufort scale in the northern Aegean on Saturday and 9 on Sunday. 

The Cyclades, Crete and the Dodecanese islands are to bear the brunt of the wet front over the weekend while the heaviest snowfall is forecast for Thessaly, the eastern mainland and Evia.