Fifteen-day heat wave longest recorded

The 15-day heat wave that ended on Wednesday evening, July 26, was the longest one recorded in the country, the National Observatory of Athens’ weather service Meteo.gr has said.

The heat wave comprised three phases: from July 12 to 15, from July 18 to 23 and from July 23 to 26.

The hottest day recorded across the country was on July 23, when 350 weather stations recorded temperatures in excess of 37 degrees Celsius and 180 stations registered 40 degrees or higher.

That day saw almost the entire population of the country affected by temperatures of 40 degrees or higher.

The temperature of 46.4 degrees recorded in Gythio, in the Peloponnese, on July 23 was the fourth highest temperature recorded in the country since records began.

All regions of the country, with the exception of the Ionian and Aegean islands, broke the temperature records for the past 15 years.

Residents of the Athens city center district of Patisia experienced temperatures above 30 degrees for 307 hours from July 12 to 26. In the same period, the residents in Larissa (Thessaly) and Sparta (Laconia) experienced such temperatures for 230 and 186 hours, respectively. The population of the northern cities of Ioannina and Kozani, on the other hand, had only 164 and 145 hours of such temperatures, respectively. [AMNA]