The Weather in Greece
And the runway at Skiathos
I got a taxi the other day and it turns out the driver was a complete Grecophile. We chatted about places we’d both been to, and then she mentioned that two of her friends were currently on Skiathos, and had just got married. That evening they watched lightning storms flashing all around the Mediterranean, though the deluge of rain took a little while to arrive.
When it did, though, it was of Biblical proportions. That night I saw something on the BBC News at Ten showing Skiathos, and Volos on the mainland, with heavy storms raging and flooded roads. The Mayor of Volos was urging people not even to leave their homes, let alone attempt to drive anywhere.
Not just the roads were flooded, either. My driver told me something I didn’t know about the airport on Skiathos.
‘You have to be a Captain to do a landing there, not just a Pilot. You come in very low over the sea, land straight onto the runway, and then have to slam your brakes on as it’s a short runway, with more sea at the other end. You can’t land there if it’s at all wet, as putting the brakes on will put you into a skid and you could end up anywhere.’
I see what she means. Take a look!
https://youtube.com/shorts/7aJ1bly3Y3c?si=nnHeCSRxREFpcDhe
The reason she was telling me this was that two more of her friends were flying out to Skiathos in two days time to join the newlyweds for a long-planned holiday.
‘At the moment,’ she told me, ’they’ll have to fly into Athens or Thessaloniki and hope there are ferries going to Skiathos. Given the storm, there might not be, and even if there are, the main road in the south of the island is totally flooded and they may not be able to get anywhere.’
What a nightmare for them. You would think that going to Greece in early September would be a no-brainer, where the weather is concerned. You’d expect to be more bothered by too much heat than too much rain. But we all know the climate today is totally turned on its head.
So the moral of this little tale is to take nothing for granted, maybe don’t book too far ahead, and always watch the weather forecast.
Till next time
Yammas!
Mike and Donna
Interesting about that Skiathos runway. My hubbie always flies "virtually" on his flight simulator. I told him about it. He likes an occasional challenge.