A brief lull in Crete's severe weather is ending, with forecasters warning that powerful rainstorms will return Friday afternoon and persist through Sunday, according to the National Observatory of Athens/meteo.gr.
The renewed system will primarily target Crete's northern and mountainous areas, where hundreds of tons of rain have already saturated the ground, raising the risk of fresh flooding. Rain and storms are also expected in Evia and the Dodecanese, with lighter activity across eastern mainland Greece, the eastern Peloponnese, the Sporades and the Cyclades.
Strong northerly winds will persist across the Aegean, reaching 8 Beaufort with gusts exceeding 100 kilometers per hour before easing Sunday, while conditions begin improving gradually from Monday, though cold temperatures will linger for several more days.
Meteorologist Nikos Kanteres told iefimerida that Crete faces rain "at intervals, locally strong" for at least five more 24-hour periods, with western Chania and Rethymno counties facing the greatest risk.
He said the critical issue isn't just rainfall volume but how quickly water can drain between bursts of rain.
Mr. Kanteres said the rest of Greece faces no comparable rain risk, though winds of 8 to 9 Beaufort remain a serious hazard regardless.
Former National Meteorological Service director Theodoris Kolydas said in a social media post that a deepening upper-level low-pressure system is intensifying conditions across the eastern Mediterranean, concentrating the heaviest rainfall over the Peloponnese, Kythira, Crete and the southern Aegean, particularly from Friday into Saturday.