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Abstract. The Cyprus Early Warning System (EWS) and its validation are presented in this study. The EWS was developed within the framework of the Weather Risk Reduction in the Mediterranean project (RiskMed), the main objective of which is to warn the authorities and the public for severe weather phenomena, in order to minimise the impacts of weather related hazards. For the validation of the EWS, a comparison is made between the output of the system and the observations retrieved from 24 automatic weather stations operated by the Meteorological Service of Cyprus. From the validation, it resulted that the system underestimates the temperatures and overestimates the rain and the wind over Cyprus. These results can be attributed, firstly to the sea coverage of the study areas and secondly to the weakness of the weather model to represent topography. The EWS is a useful forecasting tool for local weather forecasters whose duties include the issue of warnings which are subsequently disseminated to the appropriate authorities acting for the safety of people and properties.

Abstract. The baroclinic depression that affected the area of Cyprus during the cold period, between 28 and 29 January 2008 was thoroughly studied and is presented in the present paper. A small perturbation on a northwesterly flow to the north of Cyprus has initiated the generation of the depression and in 24 h this developed into a deep baroclinic system. This depression was associated with intense weather phenomena, such as heavy thunderstorms with hail and near gale force winds. Strong cold advection resulted in a significant temperature decrease; precipitation even in lower altitudes was in the form of snow, while the accumulated rainfall corresponded to the 25% of the monthly normal. January 2008 is considered as a dry month, despite the fact that, on the average, January is considered as the wettest month of the year. In this study, the evolution and development of the depression was investigated from synoptic, dynamic, energetic and thermodynamic perspectives, in order to enhance our knowledge on the life cycle and behaviour of similar depressions over the area with extreme characteristics.

Abstract. This paper comprises a comprehensive account on the outcomes of the 10th Plinius Conference on Mediterranean Storms that was held in Cyprus from 22 to 24 September 2008. Selected papers presented during the Conference were published in two peer reviewed journals that were devoted to this event and are summarized in this concise report.

Abstract. Hail is a hazardous weather element often accompanying a thunderstorm, as a result of either thermal instability or instability associated with baroclinic synoptic-scale systems (i.e. frontal depressions). Nevertheless, instability of any kind and thunderstorm activity does not always lead to the formation of hail of adequate size to reach the ground. The broader the knowledge concerning hail events the better the understanding of the underlying thermodynamic and dynamic mechanisms, as well as the physical processes associated with its formation. In the present study, the severe hail events that were recorded in Cyprus during the ten-year period from 1996 until 2005 were examined, first by grouping them into two clusters, namely, the "thermal instability cluster" and the "frontal depression cluster". Subsequently, the spatial and temporal evolution of the synoptic, dynamic and thermodynamic characteristics of these hail events was studied in depth. Also, the impact of hailstorms on the local economy of the island is presented in terms of the compensations paid by the Agricultural Insurance Organization of the country.