The Mediterranean coast is bracing for a catastrophic storm, according to the latest weather forecasts. Meteorologist Dominik Jung has issued a stark warning that Europe could be hit with heavy torrential rains in the next 10 days, potentially doubling the storms caused by DANA in Valencia, which claimed 216 lives.

Speaking to German daily Frankfurter Rundschau, he described the current forecasts from the European Centre for Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) as “frankly worrying”.

He said: “On Friday evening (November 29), the European weather model predicted that there would be widespread rainfall of between 500 and almost 1,000 litres over the next two weeks from Italy through the Balkans to Greece. That would be an apocalypse. Historic floods would be the result in southeastern Europe, a catastrophe.”

He labelled this situation as “an apocalypse”, warning that “in south-eastern Europe, historic flooding would cause a catastrophe. The amount of rainfall is equivalent to more than a year’s worth in just two weeks”.

Residents in these areas are being warned to prepare for traffic chaos, evacuations and potential power outages.

The tourism sector will also be significantly impacted, he predicted. Jung also forecasts a dramatic start to December for the affected regions as nature unleashes its destructive force, reports the Mirror.

The Greek islands of Rhodes and Lemnos were plunged into a state of emergency on Monday after being hammered by storms, resulting in two fatalities and extensive destruction.

Rescue operations, bolstered by military and local authority support, saved numerous elderly individuals from the flood-stricken regions following a weekend of fierce gales and heavy downpours that overturned vehicles, cut power supplies, and ravaged roadways.

On Lemnos, two men perished in an inundated village, while many were evacuated to safety, finding temporary shelter in hotels at the island’s principal port.

Vassilis Kikilias, the minister for climate crisis and civil protection, has been vocal in his appeals to storm-affected citizens to heed evacuation directives delivered via mobile phone push notifications.

“It is a thousand times better to comply with potentially excessive warnings than to face tragedy,” he declared on Skai TV.

Kikilias attributes the increasingly severe weather patterns in Greece, including unprecedented heatwaves fuelling wildfires, this year’s harsh drought, and the colossal floods in central Greece in 2023, to the relentless march of climate change.

Monday saw rail travel on the Greek mainland thrown into chaos due to severe weather conditions.

The eastern Aegean islands, along with parts of central and southern mainland Greece, remain under weather warnings.

This comes as Rhodes experiences devastating floods a mere year after wildfires ravaged the island, leading to the evacuation of thousands of tourists and widespread destruction of land.