What are there 2,962 of in Cyprus?

Here’s a quick quiz. Ready? Off we go…

1. What are there 2,962 of in Cyprus?

2. What’s another name for Boxing Day?

3. When did Good King Wenceslas look out?

As a Very Smart Reader, you will have clocked that all three questions have the same answer. And they’re all related to this week…

As of the last official count, there are almost 3,000 people called Stephanos in Cyprus (and another 1,511 Stephanias). Boxing Day marks St Stephen’s Day in the Western calendar. And Wenceslas looked out, of course, on the Feast of Stephen (the Anglicised version of the name), which falls on December 26.

In the west, St Stephen is largely a supporting character – a wintry cue in a carol, a convenient snowy backdrop that sends a ruler (and his page) trudging heroically through the cold to rescue ‘a poor man gathering winter fuel’. His story is one of charity, yes, but also of frost, drifts, and guaranteed winter.

In Cyprus, Agios Stefanos is a little different – and his feast falls a day later, on December 27. It’s the same chap – the Duke of Bohemia – but here he’s a name-day saint, celebrated the day after Boxing Day, remembered not for snow but as the first Christian martyr, a symbol of service, charity, and quiet faith. And while his feast day doesn’t promise snow, it does have a habit of arriving just as the island’s weather begins to stir…

Troodos saw its first flakes as early as December 3. Further falls followed mid-month: by December 16, police were warning of slippery mountain roads. And in the run-up to Christmas, we got the full force of winter: torrential rain, thunderstorms, hail – and yet more snow on the highest peaks!

Over this coming weekend, however, the Met Office is forecasting a quieter break.

Nicosia drifts through the post-Christmas period under hazy sunshine on Friday, with highs around 19°C. Winds strengthen over the weekend, bringing a couple of light rain spells, and a cooler feel by Sunday.

Limassol hangs on to the sunshine a little longer: Friday and Saturday remain bright and mild at around 20–21°C before cooler, brisker air arrives on Sunday. Larnaca sees brief showers on Saturday, everything brightens again by the end of the weekend as temperatures ease back into the high teens. And the Famagusta region follows a similar mixed pattern: scattered showers, strengthening winds, and a steady slide into mid-teen temperatures by Monday.

Paphos is our unsettled outlier: showers and strong winds dominate Friday and Saturday, easing slightly on Sunday before brighter but still blustery conditions return on Monday.

And, up in Troodos, winter is taking over. Friday is cold but clear, before temperatures drop below freezing overnight from Saturday onwards. Showers over the weekend could turn wintry, and by Sunday and Monday snow remains very much in play…

That said, it’s unlikely the island’s 2,962 Stefanoses will wake up to snow that’s ‘deep and crisp and even’ this weekend. Even the name-day celebrants in our highest mountain villages are more likely to be looking out on something closer to ‘shallow, soft and slushy’!

WEEKEND WEATHER TIPS FROM XM

• Enjoy the mild while it lasts – sunshine now, brisk layers later is the weekend’s quiet theme.

• Mountain plans? Check the roads first – slush and ice are more likely than postcard snow.

• Coastal walks beat beach days – fresh air, fewer crowds, and no commitment to swimming.

• If snow appears, expect chaos – traffic jams, bonnet photos, and enthusiastic over-reaction guaranteed.

• Don’t forget to wish all the Stephanoses and Stephanias a happy name day on December 27!