Extreme temperatures temporarily close Acropolis in Greece

The Acropolis in Athens will be temporarily closed on Tuesday due to the heatwave sweeping Greece, the country's Culture Ministry announced. According to authorities, the archaeological site will be closed to visitors from 1pm to 5pm local time (11am to 3pm UK time).

Temperatures are expected to reach up to 42°C in some parts of Greece, while a level four fire alert has been declared, indicating a very high risk, in several regions of the country.

The temporary closure of the Acropolis comes as the country has been hit by another wave of extreme temperatures since Sunday, making this not the first time the tourist attraction has been closed for safety reasons. A similar decision was previously made in June and July last year.

Temperatures in Athens are expected to reach 38°C on Tuesday. The Culture Ministry said the measure was taken “to ensure the safety of employees and visitors,” as the Acropolis is visited by tens of thousands of people every day, with a total of around 4.5 million visitors in 2024 alone.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labor has ordered a five-hour work stoppage for workers working outdoors, from 12:00 to 17:00, in areas expected to be most severely affected by the heat wave.

The heatwave is expected to continue until Wednesday, with temperatures reaching 41°C. The Greek government has declared the highest fire alert, category five, indicating a state of alert and extreme danger for four regions: Attica, Central Greece, the Peloponnese and Thessaly. Category four warnings have been issued for several other regions of the country.

According to authorities, temperatures will begin to drop significantly on Thursday, marking the end of the current heat wave.

Meanwhile, the Greek Civil Protection Service has called on citizens to exercise maximum caution, as emergency teams are on high alert. On Monday alone, according to the fire service, 41 fires were reported across the country; 34 of them were contained in the early hours, while seven remained active until the evening.

The fire situation is also worsening in other parts of Europe. In Spain's Catalan region, more than 18,000 residents were ordered to stay indoors on Tuesday because of a large fire in the eastern province of Tarragona. The Spanish government deployed the military emergency unit, as well as about 300 firefighters, to deal with the flames that spread rapidly due to strong winds overnight. So far, about 3,000 hectares of land have been burned.

In France, Marseille Provence airport announced closure due to a nearby fire that was spreading rapidly. In the southwestern city of Narbonne, more than 1,000 firefighters were battling another massive blaze, while residents were evacuated and a highway linking France to Spain was temporarily closed.

Much of Western and Southern Europe has been hit by an early heatwave this summer, which has caused mass evacuations as well as significant damage to homes and businesses.

According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), heat waves are becoming more frequent and extreme due to human-induced climate change. Experts warn that if global warming continues at this rate, extreme weather will intensify even more in the future.