Very high and extreme thermal conditions are expected on Thursday and Friday in many parts of Greece, due to the heatwave prevailing in the country, according to the latest forecast data from meteo.gr of the National Observatory of Athens. Meanwhile, meteo's pyrometeorological team FLAME reported that, starting on Thursday, Greece is entering the most critical worsening of conditions for the start of wildfires.
Meteo said that a heatwave is expected to prevail across Greece on Thursday, July 24, with temperatures reaching 40-42 ° C in many regions and locally up to 43 ° C. On Friday, July 25, a slight further rise in temperature is anticipated, with the mercury expected to reach or locally exceed 44 ° C.
More specifically, according to the biometeorological warning system HEAT-ALARM and as shown in the corresponding maps, the following conditions are expected:
Thursday, July 24:
- Very high heat stress will affect most regions of the country.
- Extreme heat stress is expected in Thessaly, the northern mainland, and the Eastern Aegean islands.
Friday, July 25:
- Very high to extreme heat stress will prevail across most mainland regions, as well as the Eastern Aegean islands and the Dodecanese.
According to the FLAME team, the cumulative effect of the very hot and dry conditions prevailing since Sunday has led to a significant increase in forest fuel flammability. As a result, the start of wildfires is made much easier, large thermal loads can develop rapidly, fires spread quickly, and spot fires are more easily created. Furthermore, the team emphasised that there is an increased potential for pyroconvective wildfires - self-sustaining fires with the potential to generate very large thermal loads- particularly in mainland regions on Thursday and Friday.
Strong nortwest winds are expected on Thursday in the Ionian Sea significantly increasing the pyrometeorological risk.
All the above leads to a signifant and possibly dangerous escalation of the pyrometeorological risk, so the difficulty of controling incidents that may occur will be very high and locally extreme," underlined the FLAME team.
