“The heat wave we’ve been experiencing in the last few days will go down as one of the strongest in 15 years, but not unprecedented or the strongest of all time,” according to meteorologist Giannis Kallianos.

Kallianos notes that some of the static data accompanying the heatwave is impressive and will be a reference point in the future. The meteorologist then provides indicative statistical data:

– 44°C across much of Thessaly and Central Sterea on Tuesday 22 July, with the exceptionally high maximum temperatures of 45°C recorded in Larissa and Karditsa, which set a record maximum temperature for Europe on that day.

– 40-43°C in the rest of lowland mainland Greece on all other days of the heatwave.

– 7-8 consecutive days of heatwave temperatures, a feature that underlines the long duration of the phenomenon.

– 37°C at 10:00 p.m. today July 25 in Athens, an indication of the intense heat stress even during the evening hours.

– 42-44°C in the western lowland continental areas today, 25/,7 and probably tomorrow, 26/7 (from Epirus to the western Peloponnese)

– Today, July 25 in Attica: 43°C in Elefsina, 42°C in Patissia and 41°C in Glyfada, with Attica experiencing very high temperatures almost everywhere, especially in its Western, Central and Southern parts. Also, today, the following maxima were recorded in Attica: Elliniko 41°C, Alimos 41°C, Vari 41°C, Nea Smyrni 41°C, Nikaia 41°C and Piraeus 41°C.

– Today, July 25: 46°C in lowland Messinia (Meligalas/Skala Messinia), a temperature measured just 1°C lower than the highest temperature in Europe according to Ogimet.

– A sense of extreme heat that reached 51.9°C in Halastra, Thessaloniki today, 25/7 at 14:10, with a temperature of 35°C and relative humidity of over 70%, creating suffocating conditions. So I will say once again, it is not the temperature that matters, but the relative humidity.

– Today, 25/7, 42-43°C were recorded in Rhodes, revealing the intensity of the phenomenon even in island areas.

– 42°C in the Ionian Islands, where the effect of the Ionian Sea and the northwest wind reaching 5 Beaufort could not contain the thermal intensity.

– The minimum temperatures, which on most days did not drop below 30°C in the big cities, is a phenomenon that exacerbates the heat load due to the impossibility of night-time cooling.

He goes on to write about the outlook for the next few days:

Two to three more days of high temperatures remain, with Monday expected to reach 38-39°C in the eastern mainland, maintaining marginal heatwave conditions. So we could say that this heatwave is ultimately an 8-day heatwave, meaning it started on Monday, 21 July and will end on Monday, 28 July.

Even more interesting statistics may be added in the next couple of days, which will strengthen the footprint of this strong heat invasion episode.

The conclusions, according to Yannis Kallianos:

This heat wave can in my view, be considered one of the strongest since 2010, but not the absolute strongest or unprecedented.

But it will be remembered from time to time like other historical heat waves of the past, leaving behind valuable data for the study of climate trends and thermal extremes in a small country like Greece.

“And one last and important thing: Temperature-wise, except this week, this summer is milder than last year’s. Hopefully, this week was just a warm spell and it will continue to be relatively mild, as mild as a Greek summer can be.”

“The previous 2 heat waves we experienced were mild. I reported this to you days before they came. In fact, at the time, some people told me: Where do you see mild at 38-40°C? We were roasting. I described today’s heatwave – with all the prognostic modesty that characterises me – as strong days ago because I had to prepare you. Not unprecedented, but strong. Some people were then quick to tell me that I was terrorising people because ‘nothing happened with 42-44°C, this is Greece’. It is those times when you try to do your job perfectly, to be accurate and timely, but there will always be some people who are spirits of contradiction. Never mind,” he concludes in his post.