Villages cut off after ‘Biblical’ downpours in Greece as state of emergency remains in place

The rain that Storm Daniel has brought to parts of Greece is never-ending.

For those caught in the downpour, which has been torrential in places, the word used over and over again is “biblical”.

The rain comes after weeks of wildfires destroyed huge areas of the country.

We travelled through central Greece to the worst affected areas and found towns and villages cut off by the rising floodwater.

Many of the roads were deserted as people heeded government warnings to stay inside.

As we drove we saw that swathes of the countryside were slowly turning into inland seas as the rain continued to fall.

The deluge is unprecedented. And it is causing chaos across the country.

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Many homes that we saw as we ventured into the eye of the storm have been inundated.

Like many here, Pavlos Christodouglou is fighting a losing battle against nature.

He can’t pump the water out of his home fast enough.

And as the rain beat down he told me he’d never seen anything like this before.

“There’s been more rain in 12 hours than in the last two years,” he said.

In Volos, it is a similar picture. The authorities say the terrible conditions are another sign of a deteriorating climate crisis.

On the island of Skiathos, a place normally of tranquil beauty and calm at this time of year, holidaymakers have been stuck – cut off from the mainland with flights and ferries cancelled.

The hope is that the rain will ease in the next 24 hours but for now a state of emergency remains in many places.