The first snowfall of the season in central mainland Greece fell on Monday, with the wintery images from the ski resort atop Mt. Parnassus apparently going “viral” on Greek-language social media and generating heightened media attention.

Much of Greece has seen unseasonable balmy weather during the ongoing autumn season, and significantly less than average rainfall over the past year. The specter of a water shortage emerged over the summer, in fact, especially on a handful of already arid isles in the Aegean.

The last winter season, 2023-24, also witnessed much less snowfall and higher median temperatures on the mountainous mainland, further reducing the annual replenishing of the much of country’s water tables and the spring-time flow of rivers and streams.

The Parnassus ski lodge, atop the eponymous and easily accessible mountain that according to myth hosted the Nine Muses of Greek mythology, is the oldest and best visited in the east Mediterranean country.