Greece fears “a very difficult summer”

“No one can predict exactly the (weather) conditions we will face. But whatever they are, we will have to fight hard,” warned the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Vassilis Kikilias.

After devastating fires and a heatwave unprecedented in its duration in 2023, followed by the hottest winter ever recorded, Greece now fears suffering “a very difficult summer” on the forest fire front.

“No one can predict exactly what (weather) conditions we will face. But whatever they are, we will have to fight hard,” warned the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Vassilis Kikilias in an interview with AFP.

“The summer will be very difficult”, he warned, while more than 30% of Greek territory is covered in forests, according to the World Bank. Some 175,000 hectares of forests and agricultural land went up in smoke in 2023 and more than 20 people died.

Devastating fires raged last July during a two-week heat wave, the longest on record in the country.

On this occasion, Greece set up the largest evacuation operation in its history, with 20,000 people, mainly tourists, forced to leave their homes or vacation spots on the island of Rhodes (southeast). And the mercury rose to 46 degrees in Gythion, in the Peloponnese peninsula (southwest).

This Mediterranean country, accustomed to summer heat waves, then went through “the warmest winter on record”, according to Costas Lagouvardos, research director at the National Observatory of Athens.