Despite the winter blues plus the extreme winds which battered parts of Greece on Wednesday night, scientists say the country is, in fact, hotter than ever.
Meteorologists at National Observatory of Athens have revealed their list of the most extreme weather phenomena experienced by Greeks in 2017.
Heraklion, the gateway to Crete for thousands of tourists, broke records on July 17 when temperatures soared to a scorching 45.9 °C (114 °F).
This was the highest temperature recorded in Greece in the last 13 years.
At the other end of the scale, the lowest temperature in residential areas was recorded in the northern town of Florina on Jan. 12, when it dipped to a freezing minus-18.8 °C (-0.4°F).
Although Wednesday night’s winds reached speeds of over 80 kilometers per hour (50 miles per hour) in some parts of the Aegean, 2017’s maximum wind gust easily beat this in Paximada on the northeast coast of Crete, clocking in at 133.6 kph (83 mph).
The maximum daily rainfall fell on Platanias, also on Crete, on Oct. 26, reaching 242 millimeters (9.5 inches).
The wettest place in Greece in 2017 was the picturesque town of Zagora at Pelion where 2.068 millimeters (81 inches) of rain fell.
Cosmopolitan Mykonos – a high-profile resort for many international celebrities – was the driest with only 242mm (9.5 inches) of rain.
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