Natural disasters

The number of fires increased ominously by more than 20% in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, according to data from the Fire Department.

More specifically, 3,543 forest fires erupted between January 1 to May 1, compared to 2,907 in the corresponding period last year.

An expert in geology has raised alarms over the heightened earthquake risks faced by the Black Sea region's eastern parts, citing the perilous combination of landslides and unstable ground conditions.

A bone-chilling Arctic cold front is sweeping across the United States, bringing temperatures to an unprecedented minus 56 degrees Celsius in certain regions. Montana and the Dakotas are grappling with the most extreme conditions, resulting in reported casualties.

The cold weather front currently affecting the country has brought the first snow of the winter, with below-zero temperatures recorded in 160 meteorological stations across the country.

While double-digit negative temperatures were recorded in some ski reports (Parnassos, Lailia in Serres and Kaimaktsalan), temperatures in Attica hit -2.2C in places.

The European Commission on Thursday decided to refer Greece to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to provide updated flood risk and flood hazard maps as required by its floods directive. 

Some have managed to record this unique phenomenon.
Professor Vladan Duci, Ph.D., noted that as a professional who studies these phenomena, nothing is unusual for him, and that the aurora borealis over Belgrade could be seen in 2000, on April 6 and 7.

Greek authorities reinforced firefighting forces in the northeastern part of the country Monday, where a massive deadly wildfire was burning for a 10th day with no signs of abating.

The fire in the Alexandroupoli and Evros areas near the Turkish border has been blamed for 20 of the 21 wildfire-related deaths in Greece last week.

Blazes in Greece burned for a seventh day on Friday, destroying tens of thousands of hectares of land in the northeast alone, in what the EU-backed Copernicus Climate Change Service said was the largest recorded wildfire on European soil in years.

Smoke from the forest fires burning in Greece has spread across most of the Eastern Mediterranean, with the National Observatory of Athens' Meteo meteorological service reporting that the Thrace blazes in particular are releasing enormous volumes of microparticles that have now made their way to Malta and southern Italy.

The likelihood of an increase in drought, albeit not a high-risk one, in Greece in the next few years is obvious from scientific models used and research conducted in the European Union based on recent temperature increases and rainfall decreases.