ATHENS

Greece just sweated through its hottest June in over a dozen years, the National Observatory of Athens announced on Monday.

June 2024 was marked by several days with higher positive temperature deviations than usual, resulting in the warmest June since 2010 across Greece – by far warmer than the second-warmest June, in 2012 – the observatory's meteorological service said in a statement.

The largest deviations were seen in the regions of Central Greece and Peloponnese, where the average monthly values ​​were up to 4.8 degrees Celsius above the normal seasonal level.

In the capital Athens, the average monthly deviation of the maximum temperature was +4.0C, with 29 out of the 30 days of the month being hotter than normal for the season.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis warned that an extremely dangerous summer lies ahead.

Speaking before a Cabinet meeting, he said: “There was an extremely difficult June in terms of weather conditions, with high drought and unusually high winds for this season," with the summer ahead expected to be “particularly dangerous,” according to the state-run AMNA news agency.

Saying the country is entering the heart of the firefighting season, Mitsotakis stressed that public assistance is crucial to prevent and fight wildfires.

Greece in June also saw several cases of tourists going missing in the face of unexpected heat, including Michael Mosley, a popular British TV doctor and presenter who died while on a walk on the island of Symi.​​​​​​​