18 Dead, 35°C in London: Western Europe's Heat Dome Spares Greece — For Now

08:08 29/5/2026 - Πηγή: iEfimerida

A heat dome that has killed at least 18 people across Western Europe and driven London's Kew Gardens to a record 35.1°C for May is currently sparing Greece, with the country sitting on the periphery of the thermal mass — though meteorologists warn a warmer pattern will arrive by early June.

Thodoris Kolydas, former director of the Hellenic National Meteorological

Service, described the mechanism Friday as an intense high-pressure ridge at 5,500 metres that has locked the atmosphere over northwestern Europe, compressing descending air currents and generating heat amplified by a plume of hot air from North Africa.

"The atmospheric dynamics over northwestern Europe are functioning like a pressurized pot lid," Mr. Kolydas said, urging Greeks not to conflate the Western European crisis with the country's own seasonal outlook.

In the United Kingdom and France, the lack of residential air conditioning has prompted emergency health alerts, water shortages and infrastructure disruption.

The 18 confirmed deaths include heatstroke fatalities and accidental drownings as people sought relief in unmonitored open water.

Mr. Kolydas said Greece's expected temperature rise in early June represents a normal seasonal transition rather than an extreme event.

The caution is relevant given Greece's own recent weather history — the country is currently deploying its largest wildfire response force in history, with nearly 19,000 firefighters on standby as the Mediterranean summer begins.

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A heat dome that has killed at least 18 people across Western Europe and driven London's Kew Gardens to a record 35.1°C for May is currently sparing Greece, with the country sitting on the periphery of the thermal mass — though meteorologists warn a warmer pattern will arrive by early June.

Thodoris Kolydas, former director of the Hellenic National Meteorological Service, described the mechanism Friday as an intense high-pressure ridge at 5,500 metres that has locked the atmosphere over northwestern Europe, compressing descending air currents and generating heat amplified by a plume of hot air from North Africa.

"The atmospheric dynamics over northwestern Europe are functioning like a pressurized pot lid," Mr. Kolydas said, urging Greeks not to conflate the Western European crisis with the country's own seasonal outlook.

In the United Kingdom and France, the lack of residential air conditioning has prompted emergency health alerts, water shortages and infrastructure disruption.

The 18 confirmed deaths include heatstroke fatalities and accidental drownings as people sought relief in unmonitored open water.

Mr. Kolydas said Greece's expected temperature rise in early June represents a normal seasonal transition rather than an extreme event.

The caution is relevant given Greece's own recent weather history — the country is currently deploying its largest wildfire response force in history, with nearly 19,000 firefighters on standby as the Mediterranean summer begins.

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