Cyprus basking in ‘summer’ weather

Cyprus is still enjoying summer weather conditions in early October, as temperatures reach a balmy 38 degrees Celsius, which is the average temperature for August.

Maximum temperatures on Tuesday and Wednesday will touch 38°C and stay at around 36°C on Thursday, much higher than the seasonal norm of 31°C.

Coastal areas will be bathed in warm temperatures of 34°C, several degrees above the usual 29°C for early October.

In comments to the Financial Mirror, Meteorologist Michalis Mouskos said Cyprus is witnessing “August-like conditions” with no sign when the rain might come.

With Cyprus still waiting for the rainy season to begin, Mouskos refrained from attempting to predict how this year’s winter will unfold, seeing as the last three months tore up the rule book.

Cyprus weather over the past few months has significantly deviated from seasonal norms, breaking every record with the first few days of October being well above the average maximum of 31°C for the season.

The unusually high temperatures in early October comes after the three previous months marked the highest temperatures on record.

September, apart from marking the hottest day ever recorded in Cyprus with temperatures reaching 46.2°C in Nicosia on 4 September, it also had the highest average temperatures for the month.

Average daily maximum temperature for September was 38.2°C, the previous highest average recorded in 2018 was 36.3°C.

Cyprus had already witnessed its hottest July and August on record.

In July, Cyprus saw daily maximum temperatures reaching or exceeding 40 degrees Celsius more times (17) than in any other July since 1983, and the second hottest day on record at 44.6°C.

The average daily maximum temperature in July was 39.7°C with the island experiencing a series of week-long heatwaves.

August had 12 days of temperatures equal or above 40°C, which is a record for the month, and the third hottest day ever was 44.5°C on 31 August.

The average daily temperatures for August reached a record 39.5°C.