Istanbul's lodos turns to poyraz: Temperatures to plunge 8 degrees, with risk of hail and waterspouts

From Saturday midday, the wind in Istanbul will shift from the south (lodos) to the north (poyraz); according to the forecast announced by AKOM, its speed will reach 60-90 kilometres per hour. Temperatures currently ranging between 20-23 degrees are expected to drop suddenly by 6-8 degrees.

The General Directorate of Meteorology issued a yellow-code warning for Istanbul as well as the northern and western parts of Balıkesir, Bursa, Çanakkale, Edirne, Kırklareli, Kocaeli, Sakarya, Tekirdağ and Yalova. The warning for heavy downpours, flash floods, flooding, lightning, waterspouts and local hail is expected to remain in effect until Sunday morning. The Meteorology Directorate also issued a heavy downpour warning for Istanbul's 39 districts lasting two days.

The Istanbul Governor's Office announced the yellow-code warning covering 02.00 today to 05.00 tomorrow. The Governor's Office reported that as of 13.00, a total of 74 reports had reached the 112 Emergency Call Centre concerning flying roofs, fallen trees and dangerous debris, and that the relevant institutions had responded to all of the reports.

Because of the storm risk, the Emirgan, Yıldız, Gülhane, Küçük Çamlıca, Büyük Çamlıca, Fethi Paşa and Hidiv Kasrı groves along with the Beykoz groves, the Büyükdere Atatürk Nursery, the Atatürk and Florya Atatürk urban forests and the Büyükçekmece Natural Life Park were temporarily closed to visitors. As of 08.00, services on the Maçka-Taşkışla (TF1) and Eyüp-Piyer Loti (TF2) cable car lines were also halted.

Şehir Hatları cancelled services on the Bostancı-Moda-Karaköy-Kabataş, Büyükada-Sedef Adası, Maltepe-Büyükada-Heybeliada-Burgazada-Kınalıada, Beşiktaş-Adalar, Kadıköy-Karaköy-Eminönü, Anadolu Kavağı-Rumeli Kavağı-Sarıyer, Sarıyer-Beykoz, Bostancı-Adalar Ring, Kabataş-Kadıköy-Adalar, Kadıköy-Kabataş, Kadıköy-Üsküdar-Ortaköy, Uzun Boğaz Tour, Kadıköy-Beşiktaş and Eminönü-Beşiktaş-Ortaköy lines. In addition, the Beşiktaş and Ortaköy stops of the Eminönü-Rumeli Kavağı line were also cancelled. There were cancellations in sea bus services as well: the 11.30 service on the Kadıköy-Yenikapı-Bandırma line, the 11.45 reciprocal services on the Yalova-Yenikapı-Yalova line, the 11.45 and 12.30 reciprocal services on the Bursa-Armutlu-Yenikapı-Kadıköy line and the 15.30 service on the Bandırma-Yenikapı-Kadıköy line were among those cancelled. It was reported that scheduled flights at Istanbul Airport and Sabiha Gökçen Airport were continuing.