Greece started bracing for a heatwave on Tuesday, the official beginning of summer and the longest day of the year, with meteorologists warning that it is expected to drag on until the end of the month, with spikes pushing the thermometer above 40 degrees Celsius.

“An especially warm 10 days lie ahead, peaking this week,” the head of research and of the Meteo weather service at the National Observatory, Kostas Lagouvardos, told newspaper Kathimerini. 

He said that temperatures are expected to be 2-3 degrees higher than the average for this time of year across the country, with places like the eastern mainland and southern Crete seeing more dramatic increases, particularly towards the end of this week.

“Even if the spikes are quite brief, the extended nature of the heatwave will be a challenge for a lot of people, especially after a relatively cool spell,” he said.

Greece’s national weather service (EMY) issued an emergency bulletin on Monday, warning that temperatures are expected to start climbing across the country on Tuesday, peaking on Thursday and Friday, and then dipping back down slightly over the weekend.

“The heat will subside on Saturday, but this will only be temporary,” commented Lagouvardos, warning of a fresh rise starting next Monday though possibly not to the levels expected late this week.

This article was previously published at ekathimerini.com.