29/08/10 Slowly Winding Down....Everything has started to slow down a bit now. The Greeks are making their way back to the mainland and the island is feeling more like it does in May. We're expecting a fairly busy September though as most flights are fully booked. Still very hot at the moment, but all the forecasts are for it to cool down a bit from midweek. Expect a few of the nightclubs etc to start closing down in the next week.

02/08/10 Latest...Luckily the fuel truckers strike did not affect the island and both fuel and general deliveries have been arriving as usual. The real busy two weeks have started as between now and August 15th is traditionally when Greeks take their holidays, so town is packed in an evening and it's a struggle to park your car anywhere. The weather cooled down for a bit, but is now back on the up, with a hot week forecast.

24/07/10 Hotter - It's actually got hotter and today is sizzling! Everyone is moving around very slowly to conserve energy....However the forecast from Monday onwards is for it to cool down a bit...back to the 80's. The island remains busy but with many more Greek tourists this year and many of the bars / tavernas are struggling as people don't seem to be eating and drinking out so much. With Goldstar Holidays going bust many of the airlines have put their prices up to ridiculous levels and this is not encouraging holidaymakers to come at the last minute. Anyway, still as beautiful as ever......

11/07/10 It's Hot! Sorry, we had to go away for a couple of weeks so apologies that there have not been any updates...Anyway, back now and it's HOT!! - in the 90's. We really could do with a small amount of rain as everything is so dry now. The last couple of days have been quite windy, but today just a gentle breeze. Everything in town is up and running at full speed and the island is full of tourists. Carrefour supermarket on the ring road has had a major overhaul and is now much much better....seems weird to do this in the middle of the season though!

11/06/10 Fully Open! The island is in full swing now and everything is open and many tourists around. Fourteen flights due in today and they should be landing to beautiful weather. It's getting hotter every day with some forecasts predicting mid-90's temperatures early next week. Went into town last night and all the tavernas doing well, bars open and the harbour full of yachts.....

02/06/10 Weather All very changeable here at the moment....one minute sun, then cloud, then rain, then sun again...hopefully it will settle down again soon.

29/05/10 Athens Flights There is a very strong rumour that Athens Airways are not flying to the island after next Monday (31/5), and Olympic Airways are taking over the route. Athens Airways website is not offering any flights after Monday. Would advise anyone who has bookings with them to ring and check urgently.

22/05/10 Storm! We have just had a HUGE 5hr storm with thunder, lightning and the most rain we have ever seen come down on the island in a short space of time. Most of the roads are flooded and the airport has only just opened (11.30am local time). Looks like there might be some damage around due to the weight of rain on awnings etc. Roads coming down from the hills are like rivers.....

17/05/10 Wind! We're in our third day of extreme winds here, mostly from the West which is really unusual. Today the Novair plane from Stockholm had two attempts at landing but aborted both times and eventually flew off to Thessaloniki. Still mostly sunny though! Forecast is for the winds to die down from midday tomorrow but with possible cloud.

11/05/10 Getting Hotter! The weather has really picked up in the past few days with clear skies and temperatures in the high 20's. The forecast is for it to remain the same if not getting a bit warmer. Many more tourists around the island as more flights have arrived this week for the first time. Petrol up to €1.70 per litre - first impact of the new taxes! Most tavernas / cafes seem to be absorbing the losses though as prices much the same as last year.

06/05/10 An Interesting Start... Well the season is underway, but only just. The flights on Tuesday were diverted to the mainland and people then brought here by coach and boat, and the Wednesday flight did not arrive until this morning (Thursday)...all due to the Greek strikes. It was a shame to go into town on Tuesday night and see everywhere open but with no-one around. Just to let you all know - the island is operating as normal (other than problems like those above), and the locals here do not get involved in protests etc - so no need to worry about riots or anything. It's still a beautiful place to be!

03/05/10 And we're off for 2010! The first flight has just landed at the airport.....and everyone is still running round trying to get ready. Everywhere there are people with paint pots, garden areas being cleaned, supermarkets down the island madly stocking up. The main bars in town are due to open tomorrow evening....so here we go. The weather is beautiful, the sea is blue - bring on the season!

25/04/10 Power The power to the whole of Skiathos, Skopelos and Alonnisos went off at 6am today and has just come back (3pm)! The island subsequently very quiet with many in town having coffee and watching the world go by....and then a big noisy wedding party with car horns going on their way to the Bourtzi!

23/04/10 Horse Race Have just had the annual St.Georges Day Horse Race at Agio Georgis (around the lake by the airport). Very well attended, probably helped by the beautiful weather at the moment. Seemed to go well and no obvious injuries to people or horses this year.

07/04/10 Athens Airways The flights between Athens and Skiathos for Summer 2010 have been secured by Athens Airways. Have to say based on our experience a very good service. Booking available online at www.athensairways.com

01/03/10 Kastro Drove out to Kastro today to see the work they have done there. Firstly if you plan on driving make sure all the bolts are done up well on your car - the last half mile has been relaid as a type of cobble road and shakes you to bits. Also there is no-where to overtake so could be fun in the summer! They have built a mini amphitheatre overlooking the old town and the sea which is beautiful although not sure what it will be used for! We've put some photos in the Gallery.

01/02/10 All Quiet Things are all a bit quiet here at the moment. Weather is varying between a few days of rain and then a few days of sun. Now we've hit February it's time to look forward and in a month or so the locals will start to get ready for another season. Still awaiting final flight schedules for 2010 with Athens Airways currently operating the two flights a week from Athens and Argo Airways now operating to Volos and Thessaloniki on the seaplane.

01/10/09 Winding Down The island is in wind down mode now. Each day another taverna and beach bar closes. Vans can be seen running around the island putting sunbeds away until next year. It's a shame really as the weather over the past week has been beautiful and a lovely temperature. Many flights now coming out empty to take the last loads of people home, but the last official day is the 9th, so another week yet.....

12/09/09 Rain....We've had very heavy rain and strong winds overnight. Today the winds remain strong, it's heavy cloud and occasional rain. So far it's not been a great start to September but at least the forecasts show that it should improve a bit during the week. Fingers crossed.....!

06/09/09 Weather The weather has suddenly turned. It's been a really windy day today and this evening the rains have arrived. According to the local forecast it's due to be cloudy and rainy until at least Thursday.....blowing strongly down the chimney at the moment!.....

30/08/09 Aegean Airlines They are launching two daily flights from Athens to Heathrow from 25th October. Also they have bid for the Athens - Skiathos route when Olympic Airlines is privatised on Oct 1st, but will have to wait and see on that one. Visit their website for more details.

20/08/09 General The island has been manic for the past 3 weeks, overflowing with tourists. Town is packed every day, the tavernas are busy and there are queues of cars down to Koukounaries in the afternoon. We had a small amount of rain and a few cool days about a week ago, but normal sunny service has been resumed. Today they had a full emergency test drill at the airport - set fire to their dummy aircraft and had fire engines, ambulances and incident units racing along the runway - good to know they practice! Everyone expects the island to quieten a little each day now as people return home and then hopefully a nice relaxing September....

26/07/09 General We've had a heatwave over the past couple of days with temperatures well into to 90's. It's cooled today with very strong winds all day from the north. The island is now very busy and it's impossible to park in town, especially at night. Supermarkets just about managing to keep their stocks up - it still seems that people are eating in a lot more than usual. Had no rain for a couple of weeks and none forecast!

12/07/09 Storm Huge storm last night at about 8pm which came very suddenly and lasted about 20 mins. Storm force winds and very heavy rain / hail. Taverna tables blown over, sunbeds flying around and power going on/off. Many swimming pools now full of rubbish / dust etc. Much cleaning up to be done this morning. Mainly affected the town end of the island.

06/07/09 General The island is ticking over nicely, but although the flights are arriving full many of the tavernas are very quiet as it seems people are staying in more in an evening - so many are worried that their takings will be down this year. The weather is hot and sunny but humid, and most days it is clouding over at about 5pm and then clearing during the night - we could really do with a bit of rain as it's been weeks now without any - everywhere is very dusty!!

25/06/09 Bomb! It would seem that some sort of World War 2 bomb has been found in the boatyard harbour (the one up by the end of the runway), by divers who were installing new pontoons. A small area around has been sealed off and the Harbour Police are guarding day and night. They can't be too worried as cars etc are still being allowed to pass by! Not sure what they are going to do with it!

11/06/09 It continues to be a VERY hot week with afternoon temperatures into the high 80's, although the weekend is forecast to be slightly cooler. The good news is that the Beach Taverna and Sunbed auctions were held on Tuesday so they can now go ahead and fully open for the season.

26/05/09 Latest....The weather has been glorious. In the 80's most days and clear blue skies. All flights now operating so the airport is busy most days. The island still seems a little quiet though - all the tavernas are open but not as packed as normal - we can only assume people are eating in more. Beautiful sunsets in the evening and the temperature is still dropping enough at night to make sleeping easy....

07/05/09 It's warming up! The weather has really picked up over the past few days with a hot weekend forecast. Quite a few charter flights have now come in and the island is getting busier and busier. Many operators start this Friday, so last minute preparations going on at many hotels and tavernas.

27/04/09 And we're off.....The first charter flight has just landed at the airport.....You can see pictures in the 'General' section of the photo gallery.

23/04/09 St Georges Day - Horse Race We've just had the traditional St Georges Day horse race around the lake by the airport. Very fast and furious! You can see pictures in the 'General' section of the photo gallery.

17/04/09 Easter Today is the start of the Greek Easter weekend and the island is very quiet with the exception of the constantly ringing single church bell. Tomorrow is a major religious day with many church services, ending at midnight with most people in town, where the newly lit candle from the church is passed down by lighting your own candle and then lighting someone else's. Sunday is a family day where spit-roasts are popular as people can once again eat meat. The weather is beautiful with clear skies and sunshine.

15/04/09 Road Latest The ring road, the road along to the port and 'club strip' have all been redone. The council are now debating whether to do the road around the lake by town after the forthcoming traditional horse race.

03/04/09 Easyjet Easyjet are starting a service from Manchester to Athens in May.

24/03/09 Independence Day Tomorrow (March 25th) is Greek Independence Day. There will be a parade and band down around the harbour at about 11am.

18/03/09 Protest There is a 'People's Protest' planned for this Friday down at the harbour. It is against the bad scheduling and high costs of the Ferry and Flying Dolphins between the island and the mainland.

13/03/09 Argo Airways An Argo Airways flight landed at the airport today. This is a new airline that says it will service Volos, Skiathos, Skopelos and Alonissos. No schedule on their website yet but hopefully soon.

10/03/09 Ferries Express Santorini has taken over from Express Skiathos today, who has already sailed to Pireaus for her annual service.

03/03/09 Carnival Last weekend was the annual carnival here in Skiathos and you can see pictures in the 'General' section of the photo gallery. This was followed by 'Clean Monday' with the traditional kite flying, although the lack of wind made this somewhat difficult!

26/02/09 Flights Thomas Cook have added a Friday flight from East Midlands.

22/02/09 General Weather has changed! Rain non-stop and snow is laying in the hills. Everywhere very quiet as people staying indoors out of the weather. Lots of water running down off the hills. Max temp of 4° today.... They have finished re-surfacing the ring road around town - a lovely drive now!

13/02/09 - Flights Update Viking Airlines have added a Monday flight from Gatwick to their schedule for 2009.

07/02/09 - General Weather has been good this week, with temps between 16 - 18°. Both Olympic flights arrived on time. Ring road starting to break up already as they haven't laid the final top tarmac coat yet!

27/01/09 - Roads Update The road from Troulos to Koukounaries has been finished and they are currently working on the ring road around town.