The area of the Balkans, more precisely the eastern Mediterranean, is being ravaged by a fierce, prolonged heat wave with temperatures that are in places 8-10 °C more than in the period from 1991 to 2020. years.
Some of the favorite summer resorts of the inhabitants of Serbia, Greece and the west of Turkey were among the warmest areas. reminds the portal Climate 101.
In those climates - as well as in Albania, North Macedonia, Bulgaria and southern Italy - in the period from July 21 to 26, it is forecast that the maximum temperatures could reach, or even exceed, 42-44 °C. This could lead to equaling and even breaking the temperature records from past years, stated the Greek website Climate Book.
The Greek Ministry of Culture ordered the closure of the Acropolis on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week during the hottest parts of the day, from noon to 5 p.m. It is one of the world's most popular tourist attractions, which attracts up to 23 thousand visitors a day.
Southeast Serbia was the hardest hit
This is the second time the Acropolis has been temporarily closed in the last two weeks due to the intense heat that could threaten the safety of employees and tourists.
This burst of heat is explained by the intense transport of warm air masses from the north of Africa to the eastern Mediterranean, while colder air masses move to the west of Europe.
As we could feel in the past few days, the current heat wave has also affected our country: in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Niš, it is more than 6 °C warmer than normal.
The south-east of Serbia was the hardest hit, where the Republic Hydrometeorological Institute (RHMZ) on Friday, July 25, locally forecasts up to 42 °C due to the increased southwest wind.
But the misfortunes of this part of the country do not stop at high temperatures...
Due to the combined effect of the heat wave and the long-term drought that has been going on since May, RHMZ initiated the delivery of SMS alerts to residents of Pčinj, Jablanica, Pirot, Toplički, Nišava and Zaječar districts, meteorologist Slobodan Sovilj wrote on his Linkedin profile.
This is already the fourth heat wave in Serbia since the beginning of the meteorological summer (June-August).
For the sake of comparison, in the period from 1961 to 1990, we recorded an average of less than one heat wave - per year. This year, in less than two summer months, we experienced four of them, while RHMZ previously registered three more heat waves in January, and one in March.
In other words, already in the first seven months of 2025, we have exceeded the former annual averages many times over - and not only those from the second half of the last century, but also recent ones.
Namely, in the last decade (2011-2020), the number of heat waves was four in one year.
The number of tropical days has also increased.
Judging by official forecasts, the summer of 2025 will not only mark an increased number of heat waves, but also tropical days with temperatures over 30 °C: there could be up to 65 of them in the plains, twice as many as before.
But all these are not just numbers, but conditions that make our everyday life much more difficult - endangering water supply, agricultural production, energy, increasing the risk of outdoor fires, harming people's health and the environment.
Our country is located in a wider area of the Mediterranean that is warming faster than the global average. The biggest increase in temperature is observed during the summer: nine out of the ten hottest summers in our country happened after 2000, and the hottest among the hottest was last summer.
Although the temperature will drop at the end of this week, we must not forget the extreme heat and its consequences for society, the economy and nature: after all, they threaten to become the new normal in Serbia in case the ambitious energy transition fails.
And just as the current heat wave tells us: we are not alone in this problem.
