Surviving a Cyprus summer
By Philippa Tracy
June 2024 was the hottest Cyprus June on record. Ever. A yellow or orange warning for extremely high temperatures was issued by the Met Office for half of the days in the month. Has July been any better? No. It is extremely hot and extremely sticky. As well as uncomfortable, and at times unbearable, it is also extremely dangerous. One woman recently died of heatstroke and others are being treated in hospital for the same condition.
Just getting through everyday life is an endurance course of SAS proportions. I went out on an errand and had to leave my car in the sun one morning and when I got back the temperature gauge on the dashboard read 50C. Navigating the supermarket run at the right time to find parking in the shade and keep food fresh is a big challenge. Best not to buy too much in case you can’t fit it all in the fridge. But enough to avoid having to go every day. When even bread and bananas have to be kept in the fridge, you need a pretty big fridge.
And if anything is left out, even overnight when it is marginally cooler, you can be sure there will be an army of cockroaches to deal with in the morning, regardless of how many times a day you wipe down surfaces and spray. It seems counter-intuitive but I like to spend as much time as possible indoors in summer. But be warned: while getting in supplies early in the day and staying indoors with the shutters down, taking regular cold showers and keeping the aircon on may seem like a good idea, be prepared for an astronomical electricity bill.
As well as the obvious health risks of going out in such extreme weather, including heat exhaustion, heatstroke, respiratory problems and cardiovascular disease, there are the UV rays. These can damage the skin cells and are risk factors for premature ageing and skin cancer. If you look at a UV index scale, anything over 8+ is very high to extreme. At the top end, 11 is considered extreme and means your skin will burn in less than five minutes.
Having monitored this every day on my weather app, Cyprus has been hitting 9, 10 and 11 regularly, at least during the hottest part of the day. I compared this to a much lower level of 2-5 in the middle of the day in July in London. UV rays can get through clouds, but basically there isn’t too much sun! However, even in London there was a yellow health alert last week. According to the BBC, it was going to reach up to 31C.
They have no idea what hot really means! But that was just for one day, and according to the UK Met Office, the average summer temperature of 13.04C this year makes it a cooler than average summer. I can now appreciate an English summer. The only boiling summer I remember was 1974. And I haven’t experienced one since. And, as an added bonus, the heat is rarely, if ever, a barrier to the myriad of things to do in London in the summer, from afternoon cinema to beer festivals and outdoor fanzone screenings. And none of them involve the need for outdoor swimming pools or factor 50 sunscreen.
But there are positives of persisting through the scorching temperatures and associated health risks of a summer on the Island of Aphrodite, the playground of the gods. Vitamin D for one. It is definitely good for your bones, your teeth and your muscles. But not too much of it, so that you risk excessive UV exposure as well.
Research has shown that there is a link between sunlight and an increase in the hormone serotonin, which leads to higher levels of calmness and even euphoria. Apparently, there is more happiness and less depression and anxiety when the sun is out. I’m not sure that is necessarily true in Cyprus in July! However, time in the sun is also supposed to make us sleep better. That’s because exposure to sunlight also encourages the production of another hormone, melatonin, that makes us feel drowsy and regulates our sleep patterns. I definitely sleep a lot in the hot weather but not necessarily at the right time. Other supposed health benefits include: lower blood pressure, improved brain health for middle-aged and older men, stronger bones and a better sex-drive. Who’d have thought?
While it is very difficult to believe that anyone can truly sleep well at night, have a better sex life, or even just be happy, in 40C+, it is worth seriously considering what a basic survival strategy might look like. If you live in Nicosia and fancy a swim to cool down, don’t be fooled into thinking you might just nip down to the municipal pool. In case you were not aware, it closed in 2020 for an upgrade and, for the fifth summer running, has still not re-opened to the public (apart from a short period in the summer of 2021). There are basically limited cheap pool-related options in Nicosia, unless you happen to have one yourself, or friends with one, or are prepared to pay the prices that the private hotel pools charge. But there’s obviously the beach, and beach-related activities all over the island if you have the stamina, plenty of water and factor 50 sunscreen.
According to the Kinks’ song Sunny Afternoon,the summertime is all about “sippin’ at my ice cold beer, lazin’ on a sunny afternoon.” Cyprus is also awash with beach bars. However, any kind of hangover in 40C is less than ideal so perhaps take it slow. There are also plenty of outdoor music festivals and outdoor cinema screenings over the summer. There are beer festivals in Limassol and Paphos, the Fengaros Festival, Sunset Tribes Festival and Guava Beach Bar, to name but a few. Take plenty of water and factor 50.
And if you prefer to hide from the rays, rather than chase them, there’s always sitting indoors and enjoying the summer of sport; we’ve had Wimbledon and the Euros and a UK general election; and now, if you like that kind of thing, the Olympics. I find it is always a good time to catch up on reading some novels and watching some good TV series. I can highly recommend the new Apple TV+ series Presumed Innocent and Lady in the Lake.
Apparently, the heat is only going to get worse. According to the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East Climate Change Initiative, initiated by Cyprus in 2019, countries in the region are at risk of a “5C increase in mean annual temperature by the end of the century”. It has also been also extremely dry and, consequently, the island’s dams are less than half full. Farmers are protesting over water shortages that will have serious consequences not just for them but for consumers as well. And with the World Resources Institute’s risk atlas putting Cyprus’ level of severe water stress as “very high”, what will happen to all the stray animals? And the garden plants? Even the succulents are struggling in my house.
Then there is the golf tourism industry. Golf courses are apparently among the key infrastructures to be developed as part of the national tourism strategy for up to 2030. Clearly, this is not a summer sport but you still have to ask why? It may be a profitable part of the tourist sector but where is all the water going to come from to keep the courses green?
Summer is supposed to be about having fun. Going out and enjoying it. In 40C+, it is less about enjoyment and more about survival and keeping safe. One way is, of course, to leave for the summer months and go somewhere cooler. Head to the mountains or get off the island maybe, if you can. In the words of the Kinks: “Help me, help me, help me sail away, Well, give me two good reasons why I oughta stay…Lazin’ on a sunny afternoon.”