ATHENS — The Secretary-General for Civil Defence, Vassilis Papageorgiou, following a meeting held at the civil defence building on Sunday, strongly urged those resident in areas affected by severe weather to be especially cautious and avoid going outdoors when the weather phenomena are intense.

Strong rain and storms affected the southern parts of Greece on Sunday, including Crete, the Dodecanese islands, the Ionian islands up to and south of Kefallonia, the Western Peloponnese and the Cyclades islands.

The weather front was forecast to move eastward, reaching the Eastern Peloponnese and the islands of the Eastern Aegean later in the day and moving up to eastern Central Greece, Thessaly and the Sporades islands at night.

The bad weather is forecast to continue in the above areas on Monday, combined with very strong northerly winds reaching 8 Beaufort at sea.

The civil defence agency also advised the public to secure their homes and any objects that might cause damage or injury, check that grates and gutters are not blocked, ensure that doors and windows are firmly shut and be mindful of torrents that may form, so that they can move to higher points within their house.

It warned that people must on no account attempt to cross torrents, streams or flooded roads, whether on foot or in a vehicle.