Greece woke up to a rainy Autumn Thursday with areas around the country experiencing local showers and northerly winds. Instead of summer heatwaves, northern areas had rain and local showers.

Problems were caused by the surprise change in the weather. Thunderstorms in Halkida, Evia, on Wednesday caused power blackouts in the area. In Ahaia, the Peloponnese, there were landslides that cut off the Pounta-Kalavryta country road in the region near Mega Spilaio (Large Cave) with numerous drivers left stranded in their cars. In Fthiotida, Central Greece, the fire brigade was called in after lightning created a fire danger and was, in some cases, accompanied by hail. In Thessaloniki, the sky turned dark, however there weren’t any traffic problems caused as a result of this.

Hail was also noted in Ptolemaida, western Greece, see video below:

Today there will be more clouds and showers in northern parts of the country with temperatures ranging between 15C and 31C. The same weather is expected in the central and the southern parts of the country with temperatures ranging between 17C and 34C. Scattered clouds are expected over the islands, with local showers, 23C-32C. There will be clouds and local showers in Athens, 20C-32C. Scattered clouds and rain in Thessaloniki, 22C-30C.