A Briton was trapped in his holiday apartment on a Greek island during a 14-hour lightning storm as Storm Daniel brought torrential rain and turned the resort into a “warzone”.
Eight people have died a amid huge downpours and surging floods across southeast Europe – including two holidaymakers who were swept away by a torrent that raged through a campsite.
On Skiathos, hundreds of tourists are stranded at the airport – and footage posted on social media showed water pouring through the streets.
Colin Barratt, speaking to Sky News from the village of Troulos on the island, said the last 48 hours have been intense as he and his fiancee were stuck in their top-floor apartment as rivers of rain poured past either side of the building.
They were woken up at about 1am on Tuesday to “almighty bangs and flashes of lightning” and thought it was like any other storm – but as the hours went on, they realised this was something different.
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Cars swept away during floods
Mr Barratt, from Leeds, described how the sound of thunder would fade away as the storm moved away towards the sea – and then reappear behind them, again and again.
He said they felt exposed during the 14-hour onslaught of lightning strikes – without even five seconds’ pause – given they were so high up on a hill, as trees collapsed near their building.
“You can hear constant rumbling, it was like a warzone in the dark with all the flashes and bangs when we were lying in bed.”
And while the weather around them appears to have calmed down, they received another emergency alert text on Wednesday afternoon.
Colin Barratt and his fiancee Lorna Willis earlier on their trip
Elsewhere on Skiathos, a British family described “biblical” downpours and said the could not leave their hotel.
Authorities have banned traffic on the island, as well as on the mainland in the city of Volos and the nearby mountain region of Pilion.
Pictures from Volos show where a road has collapsed and fallen away as rain lashed the city.