Severe storms sweep Greece, bringing hail and power outages

Severe thunderstorms and local squalls are sweeping across much of Greece, impacting the Attica region since Friday afternoon.

Storms have moved from northern Attica into central Athens, with hail reported in parts of the capital and power outages in northern suburbs.

The fire service reported four fires caused by intense thunderstorms that hit Evia, central Greece, on Friday morning.

The National Meteorological Service issued an emergency bulletin, warning that cold, unstable air masses will remain over Greece through Saturday, bringing heavy rain, thunderstorms, frequent lightning, local hailstorms and strong winds.

On Saturday, storms are expected in the Sporades Islands, Evia and possibly Thessaly in the morning, with the Peloponnese, Central Greece (including Attica), Epirus and Macedonia affected in the afternoon.