Greece faces a contradictory start to July, with afternoon thunderstorms forecast across much of the country on Saturday even as fire authorities maintain high-level wildfire alerts — a reminder that rain alone offers little comfort when temperatures stay elevated and winds are strengthening.
According to national forecasting service Meteo.gr, the day will begin deceptively calm, with sunshine giving way to building cloud cover by midday.
By afternoon, local downpours and isolated thunderstorms are expected to break across the Ionian Islands, Sporades, Evia, Central and Eastern Macedonia, Thrace, Eastern Thessaly, Central Greece, the Peloponnese and Crete — with the heaviest activity centred on the Peloponnese.
Temperatures will remain firmly summer-level. Thessaly and Macedonia are forecast to reach 36°C, while Athens will swing between 24°C and 33°C, with localised afternoon rain expected across Attica. Thessaloniki will hit 34°C under lighter, shifting cloud. Crete will stay relatively cooler, peaking at 32°C.
Northerly winds of 3 to 6 Beaufort will sweep much of the country, with gusts reaching 7 Beaufort locally across the Ionian Sea and the southeastern Aegean — conditions that concern fire officials as much as the heat.
Civil Protection authorities have issued a Category 4 "very high" fire risk rating for Thessaloniki and Kilkis, and a Category 3 "high" alert for Attica and several other regions.
Officials warned that the combination of residual heat, dry air masses and strengthening winds keeps the risk of rapid ignition dangerously elevated — rain or not.