A holiday hotspot popular with Brits has seen a state of emergency declared after storms left two dead. Authorities have made the declaration for Rhodes, which still enjoys temperatures in the high teens even in December.

It also applies to Lemnos. The storms have also caused widespread damage.

Rescue teams, assisted by the military and local authorities, rescued many older residents in flood-hit areas, after strong winds and torrential rain over the weekend flipped cars, caused power outages and damaged roads.

Two men were killed in a flooded village on Lemnos, while scores of people were evacuated and taken to hotels in the island’s main port. Vassilis Kikilias, the minister for climate crisis and civil protection, urged residents in storm-hit areas to comply with evacuation orders that are announced using mobile phone push alerts.

“It is a thousand times better to comply with potentially excessive warnings than to face tragedy,” the minister told private Skai television. Mr Kikilias has pointed to climate change as the cause of worsening weather conditions in Greece in recent years, including an unprecedented series of heatwaves that intensify wildfires, a severe drought this year and massive floods in central Greece in 2023.

Rail travel on the Greek mainland was disrupted throughout Monday. Weather warnings remain in effect for islands of the eastern Aegean islands, as well as parts of central and southern mainland Greece. The weather is set to remain unsettled for the coming days, before next week turning back to sunshine, with temperatures around 20C.