Cyprus have around 180 hours of sunshine in December (that is, as much as in May in London). Charts of selected locations On the coast Inland Precipitation The higher mountain areas are cooler and moister than the rest of the island. They receive the heaviest annual rainfall, which may be as much as . Sharp frost also occurs in the higher districts, which are usually blanketed with snow during the first months of the year. Precipitation increases from up the south-western windward slopes to nearly at the top of the Troodos massif. The narrow ridge of the Kyrenia range, stretching from west to east along the extreme north of the island produces a relatively small increase in rainfall of around along its ridge at an elevation of . Plains along the northern coast and in the Karpass Peninsula area average of annual rainfall. The least rainfall occurs in the Mesaoria, with a year. Variability in annual rainfall is characteristic for the island, however, and droughts are frequent and sometimes severe. Statistical analysis of rainfall in Cyprus reveals a decreasing trend of rainfall amounts in the last 30 years. Rainfall in the warmer months contributes little or nothing to water resources and agriculture. Autumn and winter rainfall, on which agriculture and water supply generally depend, is somewhat variable from year to year. Other information The Mediterranean climate, warm and rather dry, with rainfall mainly between November and March, favors agriculture. In general, the island experiences mild wet winters and dry hot summers. Variations in temperature and rainfall are governed by altitude and, to a lesser extent, distance from the coast. Hot, dry summers from mid-May to mid-September and rainy, rather changeable winters from November to mid-March are separated by short autumn and spring seasons. In summer the island is mainly under the influence of a shallow trough of low pressure extending from the great continental depression centred over Western Asia. It is a season of high temperatures with almost cloudless skies. In winter Cyprus is near the track of fairly frequent small depressions which cross the Mediterranean Sea from west to east between the continental anticyclone of Eurasia and the generally low pressure belt of North Africa. These depressions give periods of disturbed weather usually lasting for a day or so and produce most of the annual precipitation, the average rainfall from December to February being about 60% of the average