Unseasonably warm weather expected for Easter weekend

Temperatures across Greece are expected to be unseasonably warm up until Sunday (Orthodox Easter) according to the forecast data released by the National Observatory of Athens on Thursday.

The high temperatures are a result of warm air masses that have blanketed the Eastern Mediterranean, with Easter Sunday expected to be approximately 16 degrees Celsius warmer than the recorded average. Specifically, temperatures in the greater part of central and southern Greece are expected to reach over 30 degrees, and in places are expected to exceed 35 degrees.

Large Greek urban centers will also have to face the heat. In Athens and Thessaloniki, Greece’s largest cities, temperatures are expected to reach 31-32 degrees. Temperatures in Larissa, in central Greece, and Patras, in the Peloponnese, are expected to reach 34-35 degrees. Finally, the city of Heraklion in Crete may have to prepare for temperatures exceeding 39 degrees.

Clouds, with occasional bursts of sunshine, are expected across Greece, alongside a high concentration of atmospheric dust. Winds are not expected to exceed 4-5 degrees on the Beaufort scale.