Climate of Greece

The climate in Greece is predominantly Mediterranean. However, due to the country's unique geography, Greece has a remarkable range of micro-climates and local variations. To the west of the Pindus mountain range, the climate is generally wetter and has some maritime features. The east of the Pindus mountain range is generally drier and windier in summer.

Categories

The climate of Greece can be divided into the following categories:

Dry Mediterranean

This climate occurs in the Aegean Islands, especially the Cyclades and the Dodecanese, southern and parts of central Evia, low lying areas of Attica, the eastern and south Peloponnese and the low lying areas of Crete. During the summer, the weather is almost always sunny, dry and any precipitation -which is rare- falls in the form of showers or thunderstorms from cumuliform cloud. The air is usually hot during the day and pleasantly warm during the night. Heatwaves can occur, but they are usually quite mild at the coastal areas, where the Etesian winds blow throughout the summer. Winters are wet and any falling snow does not last too long, especially in the south facing slopes. Rain in winter is often persistent and can cause flash floods.

Continental Mediterranean

In areas having this climate, namely the greatest part of Thessaly, Macedonia, Thrace, the interiors of Epirus and Central Greece (Sterea Ellada) and the Peloponnese, there is a more notable difference between temperatures in summer and winter. Winters are cold and often harsh with locally abundant snowfalls. Summers are hot, locally sometimes very hot, with somewhat frequent thunderstorms. Differences in precipitation between summer and winter are not very big, though most precipitation tends to fall in late autumn. Diurnal temperature ranges can be big (over 20 °C), especially in interior plains and valleys. Frosts are common in winter and, in some areas, spring and autumn. Ptolemaida, in Western Macedonia, holds the official record of lowest temperature on Greek territory with -27.8C, although the temperature in this town has reached +40.0 °C, too.

Alpine Mediterranean

In this climate, the winter is harsh with abundant snowfalls, while the summers are cool with frequent thunderstorms. This climate is to be found on high mountains, like Pindus and Rhodope.

Temperature

• Abs. minimum temperature: -27.8C, Ptolemaida
• Abs. maximum temperature: +48.7C,+48.0C Tatoi & Elefsina

Average annual temperature in Greece ranges from +14C to +20C (corrected for altitude). However, since Greece is generally a mountainous country, real average temperatures vary considerably from region to region.

External links

• Hellenic National Meteorological Society
• National Observatory of Athens
• Network of online weather stations