Heatwave shuts down Athens Acropolis during peak hours
The Athens Acropolis, Greece’s most visited tourist site, was closed to the public during the hottest hours of on Wednesday as the season’s earliest-ever heatwave swept the country, prompting school closures and health warnings.
The Unesco-listed archaeological site closed from midday to 5pm (local time), with temperatures topping 43 degrees Celsius in central Greece.
Temperatures of up to 44 degrees Celsius are expected on Thursday as the phenomenon peaks, with up to 43 degrees forecast in the capital.
Meteorologists have noted this is the earliest heatwave -which for Greece is temperatures exceeding 38 degrees Celsius for at least three days -- in recorded history.
“This heatwave will go down in history,” meteorologist Panos Giannopoulos said on state TV ERT.
“In the 20th century we never had a heatwave before June 19. We have had several in the 21st century, but none before June 15,” he said.
The climate crisis and civil protection ministry has warned of a very high risk of fires in the Attica region around Athens.
Schools stayed closed in several regions of the country on Wednesday and will do so again Thursday, including in the capital, while the labour ministry has advised publicsector employees to work from home.
The ministry also ordered a pause from midday to 5 pm for outdoor work including food delivery, to Thursday.
‘Too risky’
Sheltering under a parasol, electrician Fotis Pappous said he had started his workday a few hours earlier, at 6 am (local time), on orders from his employer.
“With this kind of heat, it would be too risky otherwise,” said the 46-year-old as he tinkered with an electricity metre near Athens’s central Syntagma Square.
But for staff working over the grill in Greece’s alreadybuzzing tourist Plaka district, there was no room for respite.
“We have no choice, it’s the start of the tourist season,” said kebab store owner Elisavet Robou. “We have air-conditioning and fans, and staff are allowed to take breaks, but unfortunately the climate crisis is here. “Heatwaves came earlier this year and the season will be difficult,” she said.
Greece’s Red Cross said it had handed out some 12,000 bottles of water in the centre of the capital and at the Acropolis.
The Acropolis was forced to close in July last year during a two-week heatwave that was unprecedented in its duration.It was followed by fires which according consumed nearly 175,000 hectares of forest and farmland.