Cyprus Civil Defence Issues CY-Alert Despite No Rain in Some Areas

On Friday, Cyprus Civil Defence released a preventive CY‑Alert message under its fourth‑category “public safety” system, following a nationwide yellow weather warning that covered regions reporting no rainfall. The alert, which did not trigger sirens, was justified by the ministry’s spokesman, Panayiotis Liasides, after consulting the Met Office. He cited severe weather already observed in Akamas and Polis Chrysochous and forecasts that the storm would spread from Paphos eastward toward Famagusta. While the Athalassa station in Nicosia and the port of Limassol recorded zero rainfall in the 24 hours after the alert, the western coast saw heavy precipitation—up to 26 mm at Larnaca airport, forcing a flight diversion to Paphos. Liasides warned that frequent alerts could dull public attention and confirmed that future yellow warnings will be evaluated individually rather than automatically triggering a CY‑Alert.