Greece puts nine regions on Red Code weather alert through Thursday

Greek authorities have placed nine regions of the country on Red Code civil protection status from Monday, October 26, through Thursday, October 29, because of an approaching weather system bringing heavy rain, thunderstorms, and possible hail.

The affected regions are Euboea, Phthiotis, and Boeotia in Central Greece; Sporades, Magnesia, and Larissa in Thessaly; all of Attica; the Dodecanese in the South Aegean; and the entire North Aegean region. Attica and North Aegean were placed on alert as a precaution because of conditions created by earlier rainfall.

“He stressed the need for timely and appropriate preparation by all involved bodies.”

The General Secretariat for Civil Protection made the decision based on an updated Emergency Bulletin of Dangerous Weather Phenomena from the National Meteorological Service and an assessment by the Risk Evaluation Committee.

The Coordination Body for Civil Protection met under the chairmanship of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Evangelos Tournas to coordinate responsible agencies and strengthen operational readiness. General Secretary Nikos Papaeustathiou invited the minister to the meeting.

Minister Tournas stressed the need for timely and appropriate preparation by all involved bodies, taking into account meteorological forecasts and the regions expected to be affected. He also emphasized increased readiness for fire service forces and the overall civil protection mechanism.

Authorities cited increased citizen movement ahead of the October 28 national holiday anniversary as an additional factor requiring heightened operational preparedness.

Forecasters expect local rain and thunderstorms, locally strong, late in the evening on Monday in the Dodecanese, Eastern Central Greece, and Euboea. Conditions are expected to ease on Tuesday, though rain and local thunderstorms remain possible in Eastern and Southern Greece, with special attention needed for Euboea, Magnesia, and the Northern Sporades.

A new deterioration is forecast for Wednesday, with heavy rain and thunderstorms mainly in Eastern Thessaly, the Northern Sporades, Eastern Central Greece—especially Phthiotis and Boeotia—and Euboea and Skyros.