Flash flooding clip in Athens is from September 2024, not ‘yesterday’

A clip showing flood water rushing down a street has been shared on social media with the claim it shows recent scenes in Athens. 

The clip was shared on X (formerly Twitter) by the Lagos State Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, on 24 November with the caption: “Yesterday in Athens, Greece”, and has been shared more than 1,300 times. It was also shared by other accounts on Facebook on 14 and 15 November claiming to show “yesterday’s rain in Athens”. 

But the clip is a few months old and actually shows flash flooding in Athens in September 2024, not in recent days or weeks as claimed.

Greek City Times shared the clip on 10 September saying: ”Storm Atena struck Attica with heavy rainfall leading to traffic disruptions and power outages in various neighbourhoods, including Psychiko, Filothei, Polygon, Lamprini, and Kypseli. 

“Streets in Kolonaki [a neighbourhood of Athens] also turned into streams, sweeping motorbikes from sidewalks.”

The footage was credited to a TikTok account that shared the clip on the same day, and we could not see any examples of it circulating online before this date. It was also shared elsewhere online in September. 

Greece’s National Meteorological Service EMY reportedly issued a weather warning for Storm Atena covering the 10 and 11 September 2024, and there were media reports of flash flooding in the city at the time. 

While there were flood warnings for Athens earlier this month, this particular video predates these.

Full Fact has contacted Mr Wahab for comment and will update this article if we receive a response. 

Miscaptioned videos are a common type of misinformation we see online, especially involving footage of natural disasters. We’ve written about many examples of flood footage that don’t show what they claim to. Our guide offers some tips for how to verify videos yourself.