Greek wine

Monday's sunshine will give way to clouds, rain and even scattered storms on Tuesday, as weather is expected to deteriorate mostly in mountainous areas of Greece.

A new cold front is forecast to sweep much of the country from Tuesday to Thursday, from the south to the north. 

The Ionian, Crete, the Peloponnese, mainland Greece, Evia and the Cyclades are to see heavy rainfall which is to spread across the Aegean to the Dodecanese and Thessaly by Tuesday night.

In the wake of the Xenophon weather system that brought the cold, wet front to Greece earlier this week, authorities are on Saturday bracing for a cyclone dubbed Zorbas, which is expected to move in from the south, affecting the Peloponnese, Crete, Attica and eastern Evia as well as much of the Aegean.

A Mediterranean hurricane heading towards Greece will reach the southern Ionian Sea on Thursday evening instead of Friday, the meteorological service (Meteo) of the Athens National Observatory said on Thursday.

The National Meteorological Service has issued a weather warning for Wednesday (August 15), with heavy rain and storms expected in the northwest of the country, with the possibility of hailstorms and strong winds.

Firefighters in eight of the countries thirteen regions have been placed on high alert, as the country's civil protection agency issued its second-highest fire warning for Friday.

The United Kingdom's Prince Charles dances to traditional Greek music in the town of Archanes on the island of Crete, Friday. The royal couple wrapped up their three-day visit to Greece Friday. [AP]

On the third and last day of an official visit to Greece, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall were on Crete on Friday. 

The royal couple flew into the port of Irakleio on a private aircraft and were received by the Archbishop of Crete Irinaios, the regional governor Stavros Arnaoutakis and the Mayor of Irakleio Vasilis Lambrinos among other local officials.

The Environment Ministry's Saving at Home ("Exoikonomisi Kat' Oikon") program received such a huge response on Tuesday that its online platform crashed.

The platform, which launched on Tuesday, received 1.5 million visitors in just a few hours, while there were concerns on the ministry's part that malicious software may have played a role.

From retsina to Assyrtiko wine, from the neighborhood taverna to major New York restaurants and from local papers to glowing articles in the New York Times, over the past decade Greek wine has made great strides in terms of international recognition.