A mass of hot air sweeping into Italy and the Balkans from the south is expected to push temperatures back up to unseasonably high levels this week, the National Observatory of Athens’ Meteo weather service said on Monday.

Daytime highs are forecast to reach 35-38 degrees Celsius in parts of the country through Thursday, Meteo said, adding that the strong northerly meltemi winds typical of the summer will persist, especially in the Aegean, where wind speeds are expected to reach as much as 7 on the Beaufort scale.

The daytime high on Tuesday is expected to reach 34C in central Athens, 35C in the northern port city of Thessaloniki and 36C in Larissa in central Greece, inching up two to three degrees higher locally.

Highs on most of the islands – with the exception of those in the eastern Aegean and the Dodecanese – and southern parts of the country will remain at more moderate levels in the high 20s and low 30s.

This article was first published on ekathimerini.com