Heat wave

The National Meteorological Service (EMY) said in an updated emergency weather report on Sunday said that the heatwave will continue mostly unabated until Thursday, when it will post a moderate decline.

Sunday's thermal surge prevailed throughout the country with temperatures reaching up to 45 degrees Celsius in Thessaly, central Greece.

It used to be that, in Greek summers, temperatures, with few exceptions, used to peak at around 33 degrees Celsius (92F), ideal for beachgoers and other holidaymakers, domestic and foreign.

But heatwaves have become increasingly frequent since the late 1950s and this trend is accelerating.

Greece was Saturday facing its hottest July weekend in 50 years, with temperatures forecast to soar above 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), while a record-breaking heat wave stretching across the southern United States was expected to expand in the coming days.

Temperatures are expected to climb to 44 degrees Celsius in some parts of Greece on Friday and Saturday, while on Sunday they may even hit a sizzling 45C in eastern regions.

Derek Gatopoulos, a correspondent for the Associated Press who has been covering news in Greece for more than 25 years, joins Thanos Davelis with the latest updates on the wildfires Greece has been facing this week, and to look at how Greece and Athens are coping with the intense and prolonged heat wave.

Greece will face not one but two heatwave episodes by the end of July, meteorologists warn. Temperatures are set to top 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in several regions Thursday. The Athens area will see 40C, while in the interior of the Central Greece and Thessaly regions, it will reach 43C. Temperatures are set to climb even higher from Friday to Sunday.

In the face of the recently rising temperatures, encouraging local governments to paint buildings white as a defense against the scorching heat could be a remedy, an expert has put forth.

A second heatwave will hit Greece from Thursday until Sunday, pushing temperatures as high as 44 Celsius (111.2 Fahrenheit). But even when the heatwave (defined as temperatures at least equal to 39C) recedes, temperatures will remain high for the following several days, meteorologists warn.

A red code for extreme heat has been issued for the majority of major Italian cities amid an intensifying heat wave across Europe, the BBC reported.

Temperatures are expected to peak on Wednesday, with the warning in place for 23 cities, from Trieste in the northeast to Messina in the southwest.

Code red means the heat is a danger to everyone, not just vulnerable groups.

Extreme heat was forecast across the globe on Wednesday, as wildfires raged and health warnings were in place in parts of Asia, Europe and North America.

Firefighters battled blazes in parts of Greece and the Canary Islands while Spain issued heat alerts and some children in Italy's Sardinia were told to stay away from sports.