It is true that Cyprus officially has an average of 326 days of sunshine a year. Well I can only guess that the remaining number of bad weather days all happened in January. It certainly felt like that anyway and was backed up by official statements. The Met Office here said that it had been the rainiest January for decades with most of the downpour in Paphos District where I live.

In all my years in the UK I never experienced the type of rain we get in Cyprus. The old expression "It doesn't rain, it pours" comes to mind - literally. The rain storms here are fierce with thunder, lightning and rain that makes you think that the ancient god Zeus may not be a mythological figure after all but be kicking around somewhere. "Whatever I did wrong, I am sorry!" you start saying to yourself after yet another shattering thunder clap!

Rainy weather in Cyprus isn't like in the UK for all sorts of reasons, one of the main ones being the lack of drainage. Works are on-going to improve the system but flooded roads and homes are a serious problem. This year we have already had several incidents of people being swept away in their cars by rivers that are stronger than they look breaking over bridges. Fortunately everybody has escaped unharmed but these incidents all serve as reminders that the winter storms here are not to be trifled with.

Of course, although the rainy weather is an ordeal at the time (do you know how long it takes to get your washing dry outside at this time of year?) we are also grateful for it because it means water in the dams. There are 108 reservoirs in Cyprus which play a key role during the hot summer months in supplying water for domestic and agricultural use.

In 2008 there was a serious drought locally which meant that the government had to go so far as to ship the commodity in from Greece at considerable expense. Water was rationed and in some areas increased in cost.
I remember that this followed a very dry winter, a tell tale sign of the drought to come.

With this in mind, I think we can put up with a little bit of rain in the winter.
Several dams have not only been filling but have been overflowing. By the time you read this, Evretou dam in Paphos District with a capacity of 24 million cubic metres is likely to have overflowed making it the sixth dam in Paphos District to reach capacity.

Argaka dam which has a capacity of 990,000 cubic metres, overflowed in mid-January followed by another small dam in Pomos, which can hold 860, 000 cubic metres of water. Arminou dam also reached its capacity of 4.3 million cubic metres, as did Kannaviou dam, the district's youngest dam with a capacity of 18 million cubic metres.

Most significantly, the island's second largest dam, Asprokremnos in Paphos District, also overflowed. I was there a few hours before it happened. There were people placing bets on the exact time that it would overflow and snack trucks serving Cypriot sweets to the punters. This kind of excitement is common when a reservoir is about to overflow.

Other dams across the island have also overflowed and the Water Development Department says that Kouris, the largest, is expected to follow suit soon. A wet winter it is indeed. So if you are coming over to Cyprus on a property scouting visit, break or even moving lock, stock and barrel - until March at least - don't forget your umbrella!

Lucie