Tourism officials say that holidaymakers in Paphos aren’t letting the inclement weather dampen their spirits, with many visiting museums, strolling round the old town, visiting the’ municipal market, and taking bus tours.
Retirees Bob and Jan Spring from Wolverhampton are on a two-week holiday in the coastal town, returning to the UK next Wednesday. They say they haven’t been put off by the poor weather and have visited many of Paphos’ sights, played a round of golf and taken a boat trip.“Unfortunately the weather can’t be controlled and at least it’s still warmer than back home,” said the Springs, who plan to take a couple of village excursions over the weekend.
Paphos hotels are also doing their best to keep guests occupied.
Ashley Goddard, manager of the Almyra hotel, part of the family owned Thanos Hotel Group said that a complimentary kids club has been laid on at the hotel, as well as movie screenings. Fireplaces have been lit – somewhat unusually for May – to keep the ambience cosy, although yesterday a number of guests chose to brave the elements and sunbathe.
“The indoor pool is being used well and the spa is fully booked today, so people are taking advantage of the hotel’s facilities,” he said.
A low-pressure front is currently moving across the island and a chance of further rainfall is forecast for the weekend and Monday. Temperatures are around eight degrees lower than average for the time of year.
As more showers swept Paphos roads, some areas were affected by flooding and debris being washed down from hillsides. Residents living in Tala, Emba and Kissonerga say they were badly affected, experiencing torrential rain and poor visibility.
The police are warning road users to proceed with care, use low speed, drive cautiously and at a safe distance, with headlights where necessary.
A spokesman for the traffic police said that although weather conditions are poor only one small accident was reported in Paphos in the past 24 hours.
“Roads are obviously slippery and some are full of water, I urge people to be careful.”
Meanwhile, the Paphos fire services say they had no major incidents to report.
“We were called to pump out water from two ground floor houses due to the heavy rain entering the properties from the road. Nothing else was reported.”
Despite the heavy rainfall, authorities say that reservoirs in the district have yet to see any serious benefit.
District engineer of the Paphos water development department, Vassos Socratous told the Cyprus Mail that although a clearer estimate of water flow into the dams would be apparent in coming days, the is likely to be very little.
“Obviously, this rainfall is beneficial and will postpone any difficulties in irrigation requirements for farmers, but dams and rivers have not seen a substantial rise in water levels,” he said.
Although Socratous noted that all of the three main reservoirs in the Paphos district were well over half full- ranging from 65.2 per cent to 77.6 per cent, capacity, most of this was due to the excellent rainfall over the past couple of years.
Source: Cyprus-Mail