As Greece endures its most severe heat in the past 30 years, wildfires are raging across the country, the capital of Athens is shrouded in haze, and residents on the city's outskirts are fleeing, leaving their belongings behind in the flames.
As temperatures climb, all eyes are turning to the tourism industry. Tourism is vital to Greece's economy, in 2019 it brought the country more than 45 billion dollars, and this sector has already taken a hit from the pandemic. Greece did everything it could to lure tourists back in 2021, launching the national tourism office's biggest advertising campaign in a decade.
Americans are facing a different problem. On August 3, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) added Greece, along with 15 other countries, to its list of destinations posing a "very high" Covid risk for travel. The country is currently at Level 4, which amounts to a travel advisory against visiting. Under the CDC's criteria, Level 4 countries have recorded more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents over the past 28 days.
Partner links: booking through them supports the blog at no extra cost to you.
Even so, for now travelers seem to be keeping calm and carrying on, riding out the heat by the pool rather than canceling their vacations.
Lucy Thackray, who traveled from London to Lefkada, one of the Ionian Islands off the western coast of mainland Greece, shelved her sightseeing plans "to stand in the pool with a frozen drink."
She says that when she arrived on Monday it was 95 degrees, and after an hour-long "boiling" taxi ride to the hotel she had little desire to leave the pool.
"I took a couple of boats out to beautiful beaches, but I won't be seeing any sights that aren't right next to the water," she said.
"I wouldn't go hiking or wandering around towns. It's honestly too hot to do anything here, even in the evenings it's hot enough to break a sweat."
A Greece veteran, she reckons she has been here 25 times, she says she has never felt heat like this.
Another Sign of Climate Change
Brandon Miller, a lead meteorologist at Weather, reported that a "heat dome" is currently sitting over southeastern Europe.
"Storm systems are moving north of the ridge of high pressure and allowing the midsummer sun to bake the region, while also letting hot, dry air from the Sahara push north into the area," he said, adding that the extreme weather is yet another sign of climate change.
"Greece is known for frequent heat waves and wildfires. But climate change is making things worse, as temperatures rise and droughts grow more severe and more frequent," he said.
According to Miller, it isn't only Greece and Turkey (which has also been hit hard), much of Southern Europe, especially over the past two weeks, is seeing "significant drought" and "exceptionally hot" temperatures.
Unbearable Temperatures
Sirena Bergman, another Brit in the Ionian Islands, arrived in Kefalonia last week from Spain. She says she had expected roughly the same temperatures, but was in for a nasty surprise.
"I haven't noticed anything closed because of the heat, but it has definitely changed how we behave," she said.
"Our accommodation is at the top of a very steep climb, and it's practically unbearable until the sun goes down. Walking around town is pretty unpleasant if you go for more than five minutes, unless there's a sea breeze on you."
"Honestly, if you've come for a sunshine holiday and you're staying near the beach or somewhere by a pool, it's probably fine, but I feel for the locals who have to get around and work in heat like this.
"It feels incredibly stifling, and while it's a novelty for those of us living in the UK, I can only imagine how hellish it must be trying to get anything productive done."
