The Paphos district received the highest rainfall, according to the barometric low BYRON, as the Polis Chrysochous station recorded daily rainfall of 113.1mm, an amount that constitutes the second highest daily rainfall in December since 1916, when this station began operating.
According to an announcement by the Meteorological Service, during the three-day period of December 5-7, 2025, Cyprus was under the influence of the barometric low BYRON, a system that had already produced very high rainfall and intense electrical activity since its course in Greece, while from the early morning hours of Sunday, December 7, 2025, this system began to produce extensive and locally intense rainfall throughout the island.
The normal rainfall for the entire month of December in Polis Chrysochous is 99.8mm (average of the period 1961 – 1990), according to the announcement, while the Kathikas station recorded 67.1mm, which is the third highest daily rainfall in December since 1977, when the station began operating. Higher values have only appeared twice: in 2001 with 99.7mm and in 2008 with 74.5mm. Several other stations in the Paphos district and other areas of the island recorded daily amounts between 15 and 57mm, confirming the extensive and water-bearing nature of the BYRON system.
Preliminary data for the entire three-day period of December 5-7, as reflected in the geographical distribution map of the daily rainfall amount of the Department of Meteorology for the three-day period, show that the highest rainfall was concentrated in western, southwestern and mountainous Cyprus, with the average three-day rainfall reaching 35.1mm for the free areas, it added.
Due to these significant rainfall events, several stations significantly increased the coverage percentage of the normal monthly rainfall and, for example, in Polis Chrysochous, the monthly normal rainfall was not only covered but also exceeded, reaching 126% by the morning of December 8. Other areas are at 25 – 40%, which indicates that the episode was particularly intense but not spatially homogeneous.
Overall, the rainfall of December 7, 2025 in Polis Chrysochous constitutes an extremely significant hydrometeorological event, with a clearly extreme character compared to the climatic values of the region, it is finally stated.
