Forest fires in Greece: Experts explain why extreme weather is battering the Mediterranean country

Greece is confronting another dangerous summer, with firefighters battling a major forest fire just northeast of Athens on Monday.

Hospitals and residential suburbs had to be evacuated as the fire that began near Varnava village on Sunday (11 August) tore through pine forests left tinder-dry by repeated heatwaves.

June and July were the hottest months ever recorded in Greece, and proved fatal for several tourists earlier this summer. 

There is no doubt that the Mediterranean country is on the frontlines of human-caused climate change in Europe. Last year, it was scalded by a record long heatwave lasting 16 days, contributing to the EU’s largest ever wildfire as an area twice the size of Athens went up in smoke between July and August. At least 28 people were killed and dozens injured.

There was little time for Greeks to catch their breath before deadly floods struck in September, with some areas receiving an average year’s worth of rain in one day from Storm Daniel.

As it contends with another year of climate extremes, what are the reasons that Greece is so badly impacted?

We know that Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world, with temperatures here rising at roughly twice the global average. That’s backed up by a recent report from the UN's World Meteorological Organization and the European Union's climate agency, Copernicus.

In summer in particular, the warming is most acute over central and southeastern Europe and around the Mediterranean, Copernicus says.

“The Mediterranean is a hot spot of the climate crisis,” says Dr Lagouvardos, research director at the National Observatory of Athens (NOA). Southern Italy, Cyprus, Türkiye and northern African countries are also badly impacted by the rising heat.

The eastern