Unusually early: The heat wave in the Aegean Sea reaches its peak

The heat wave has been going on for three days. As on Wednesday, the Acropolis, a landmark of Athens, was also closed on Thursday during the hot afternoon hours. The Ministry of Culture extended the closure between 12 noon and 5 p.m. to include all archaeological sites in the greater Greek capital area.

Tourist attractions in Crete, the Peloponnese and the Cyclades are also closed during the hottest hours of the day. However, other world-famous sites such as Delphi, Olympia and Knossos remained open throughout the day, according to the Culture Ministry. Kindergartens and primary schools remained closed in several regions of the country for the second day in a row.

Many people worked from home; Because of the heat, there was almost no construction work. Doctors advised the elderly or sick to stay at home. Greek media reported that the atmosphere was stifling and exacerbated by desert dust, making the heat even more exhausting.

“He will go down in history.”

“This heat wave will go down in history,” meteorologist Panagiotis Giannopoulos told public broadcaster ERT. “This is the first time the weather has come so early.” Since 2000, according to Gianopulos, there have been several events in June — “but none of them happened before June 15.”

The Greek Red Cross advises people to stay out of the sun, close window bars, drink enough water, and eat only light foods. You should stay in touch with friends and family to make sure that older people in particular are doing well. Alcohol is not recommended, as is outdoor exercise.

Temperature record measured in Türkiye

The temperature was also more than 30 degrees on the Turkish Aegean coast in the morning. According to the official Anadolu news agency, the maximum temperature was actually measured in Aydın Province in western Turkey on Wednesday: the thermometer there showed 44.6 degrees, the hottest June day in the province since 1938.

According to the forecasts of the meteorological authorities in both countries, the end of this short heat wave will come at the end of the week. Rain is expected to fall in northern Greece on Friday. The northern winds are expected to blow after that. Then the temperature should drop significantly. But the Greek Civil Defense warned on Thursday that the risk of fire was increasing due to the winds.

Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent

Although individual extreme events cannot be directly traced to a specific cause, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, one thing is clear: the climate crisis is making extreme weather events such as floods, storms and heat more frequent and more intense. This means that rainfall and storms are becoming stronger, heat waves are becoming hotter, and droughts are becoming drier.