Greece is facing the longest and most intense heat wave in its history

Early morning, on Friday July 21, the mercury is already pointing at 30°C and Anna is walking her dog in the Japanese Garden in Pangrati district of Athens. “He drags his feet, he’s tired. Me too! I don’t sleep well, the air conditioning makes my throat sore, and during the day, if I walk for a few minutes in the sun, my head gets dizzy…”the official sighs. Today, exceptionally, Anna will be working from home. “Our daily life has been turned upside down for a few years with global warming. It is getting harder and harder to experience summer in Athens.”admits thirty something.

In recent days, the main union of the private sector (GSEE) has received up to a hundred complaints from employees who are forced to work outdoors between noon and five in the evening, hours prohibited by the authorities, due to the high temperatures. Therefore, the Ministry of Labor once again called on all companies and departments on Friday to prefer remote work due to the high temperatures, which, on Friday, reached 41 degrees Celsius in Attica, the Athens region. The ministry also asked labor inspectors to verify that no worker is working in hazardous locations in direct sunlight during the next few days.

Because the worst is yet to come, this weekend. On Sunday, the mercury will approach 44°C in the Greek capital and up to 45°C in Thessaly, in the center of the country. This weekend is likely to be the hottest July ever recorded in the past 50 years.Meteorologist Panagiotis Giannopoulos warned on public television channel ERT.

All archaeological sites in the country, including the Acropolis in Athens, were again closed during the hottest hours of the day until Sunday. An action plan was also drawn up at the town hall in the Greek capital. Water bottles are distributed near the central square, Syntagma; Many air-conditioned rooms are open, especially for the homeless; agents prowling the streets helping the poor; 150 water points have been set up across the city for stray animals; A special number has been set up and even drones fly over the hills to monitor any involuntary fires.

Significant decrease in precipitation

In 2007, Athens has already seen red with a temperature of 44.8 degrees Celsius, according to the National Observatory of Athens. ” But what distinguishes this year is the length of these heat waves.Kostas Lagovardos, director of research at the National Observatory of Athens, confirms. “Since July 12th, we have been facing very high temperatures, approaching 40 degrees Celsius, and a new heat wave is expected to start on Wednesday, after a rest period of only two days. He continued.

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