Snow cover across Greece remained significantly below average during the 2024-2025 winter season, extending a long-term decline linked to climate change, according to data from the National Observatory of Athens.
Despite a few isolated snow events, the overall extent and duration of snow cover from mid-November to mid-May fell well short of the 2004-2023 average. Of the 180 days typically monitored for snow coverage, 145 were below the seasonal norm – slightly better than the 163 sub-average days recorded the previous winter, but still accounting for 80 percent of the season, the Observatory’s Meteo unit reported.
Snowfall periods in Greece have become brief
Researchers noted that while snowfall did occur, including the early-season Storm Bora from November 30 to December 1, and a mid-January event that brought widespread snow to northern Greece, these episodes were brief. From mid-January through early April, snow cover levels remained consistently among the lowest recorded since 2004.
“The data show that in recent years, and particularly over the past decade, winter snowfall patterns in Greece have become increasingly erratic – ranging from unusually mild periods to brief, extreme weather events,” the report said.
Although April was relatively cold, snow cover exceeded the long-term average on only four days during the month.
The shrinking snow season has serious implications for Greece’s environment and economy. Reduced snowfall affects groundwater recharge and water reserves, and poses risks to sectors such as winter tourism.
Greece’s weather and climate change
According to another Meteo study, snow cover in Greece has been steadily declining over the 1991-2020 period, with the duration of the snow season decreasing by approximately 1.5 days per year. In some mountainous regions of central and northern Greece, this has resulted in the loss of 30 to 50 snow-covered days, along with a significant reduction in snow depth – particularly at elevations below 1,800 meters.
Greece is at the epicenter of climate change, and in 2024, the country not only witnessed its hottest recorded year ever, it also saw daily temperatures above average spanning throughout the year, a new study reveals.
According to Climatebook, a Greek scientific news portal on weather and climate, scientists analyzed meteorological data and found that the average temperature in Greece for 2024 was above the daily average recorded between 1991-2020 during 77 percent of the days. That means that 282 of the 366 days of the year saw increases.
Climatebook’s scientific team also found that the winter season of 2023-2024 was the warmest ever recorded in Greece, while 2024 had been warmer by 0.7 degrees Celsius compared to 2023.
“Higher temperatures and more intense heatwaves in Greece during recent years confirm a trend of increasing [temperatures], which had been spotted in the middle of the previous decade and which we can almost certainly assume it will continue in the future,” Konstantinos Kartalis, a professor at Athens University and member of the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change, told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.
Greek seas also hit warmest temperatures in 2024
The seas of Greece hit their warmest temperatures in 40 years this summer. Water temperatures exceeded 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit), according to a study conducted by three Greek universities.
Researchers at the Universities of Thessaloniki, the Aegean, and Thrace studied satellite data on the temperature of Greek seas from 1982 until today and concluded that the entire Aegean, Ionian, and Cretan Seas have registered the highest temperatures of the last four decades in the summer of 2024.