Turkish State Meteorological Service

Heavy downpours and flurries will leave the country as of July 1, a prominent Turkish meteorologist has said while warning citizens to get ready to bear the brunt of blistering temperatures that will last at least a week.

"As of the weekend, the temperatures will reach life-threatening levels," Orhan Şen told the daily Milliyet on June 29.

Concrete jungle and unplanned urbanization are the reasons for floodings witnessed in various provinces, including the capital Ankara where three people died and a man went missing due to flash floods, meteorologists have said.

With a new heatwave gripping the country, temperatures are likely to hit above the seasonal norms throughout the next week, as a prominent meteorologist warns citizens of a hotter weekend ahead compared to weekdays.

"The temperatures are between 4 and 8 degrees Celsius higher than the seasonal norms. But it will get hotter on the weekend," meteorologist Orhan Şen tweeted on June 1.

Turkey will witness a wave of scorching heat across the country by the weekend, especially in the country's west with the temperatures rising between 4 to 12 degrees Celsius above the norms, the Turkish State Meteorological Service has said.

The three-day Eid holiday has started with rainfall in all seven regions of the country, with wind speed reaching up to 50 kilometres per hour in the western provinces.

"There will be pelting rain and thundery showers across all the country's coastal and eastern provinces," the Turkish State Meteorological Service said.

Turkey's eastern provinces have been hit by heavy snowfalls in the middle of April, with the snow depth reaching some 20 centimeters in the center of Kars, a province bordering Armenia.

"People swim at the Aegean coasts, we are shoveling snow here in April," Güven Öztürk, a resident of Kars, told Demirören News Agency on April 13.

While warm days at the beginning of April gave a sigh of relief, Turkey will be witnessing another cold week with temperatures expected to decline by 10 degrees Celsius on average due to a new cold wave entering the country from the Balkans, the Turkish State Meteorological Service has announced.

The Turkish State Meteorological Service has issued a "heavy precipitation and downpour" warning for two regions and four provinces and has declared an "orange alert" for the country's largest metropolis Istanbul against rains and strong winds.

"Orange alert" is rarely issued, which signifies a possibility of damage and loss in a "dangerous weather situation."

More and more farmers that are concerned about the adverse effects of climate change are buying insurance policies to protect them against potential financial losses due to drought.

In the first three months of 2022, a record number of growers applied for this particular insurance.

Temperatures will start dropping significantly across the country as of today, and Turkey's most populous province, Istanbul, will witness snowfall once again in early March, a prominent Turkish meteorologist has said.

"A wave of rainy weather will have an impact in the western parts of the country, starting from the late hours of Feb. 28," Orhan Şen announced on his Twitter account.