Preliminary data analyzed by the National Observatory of Athens’ Meteo weather service shows what local residents and visitors alike experienced over the recent summer, namely, the hottest season on record.
As previously reported, temperatures in June, July and August 2024 were, on average, higher than the median for the specific day – and for extended periods of time throughout the country.
Specifically, the summer of 2024 ranks as the hottest on record since temperatures began to be recorded scientifically. Researchers said the average daily temperature was higher, by 2.9 Celsius, than the 1991-2020 period; and by 1 degree Celsius higher than the previously hottest summer on record, that of 2021.
June and July 2024 were the hottest since records have been kept, with August 2024 the second hottest on record, after August 2021.
Western and northern Greece experienced the biggest hike in the average daily temperature this past summer, up by two to three degrees Celsius compared to the 1991-2020 period. The difference did not dip under +1.4 degrees Celsius in any region of Greece, in fact – i.e. the summer of 2024 compared to the 1991-2020 period.
