Heavy rains and thunder hit the western parts of the island overnight and on Friday morning while a yellow weather warning for extreme weather remains in place until 5pm.

Isolated heavy storms with hail are expected to continue during the day, initially in the western half of the island and then spreading to other areas.

After midday, the rain will mainly affect the higher mountains and the eastern half of the island. The weather is set to improve noticeably later in the day.

The intensity of rain is expected to range between 35 and 55 millimetres per hour, while locally there may be hail and strong gusts of wind, which may reach up to 8 Beaufort.

As of Friday morning, the most intense thunderstorms were recorded in Paphos and Polis Chrysochou overnight, while intense thunderstorms also started in Larnaca and other areas in the western part of the island.

In the early hours of the morning, a lightning strike caused a fire in a restaurant near Lara beach in the Paphos area.

The fire broke out at around 2am and caused extensive damage to the property but was brought under full control by 5am.