Greece has so far been at the epicenter Europe's summer heat, with the country recording its hottest June day earlier this month. ATHENS - Growing up in Texas, Ms Mary Beth Walsh thought she was accustomed to high temperatures. Her hometown of Dallas, which is currently being blasted by unrelenting heat, frequently experiences heat waves.
But when the 21-year-old visited Athens in mid-June with her friends she was shocked by the “unbearable” 37 deg C heat she faced. “I actually had no idea about the heat that was going on until we were there, which was pretty surprising,” she told CNN. “I always joke around that I have such a high heat tolerance; I bring my sweatshirt with me to class in August (in the US),” she said.
But the apartment she was staying in had no air conditioning and temperatures were too high during the day to explore the city on foot. “Our energy levels were lower than we thought they would be,” she said. “It felt pretty unbearable to walk in the direct heat.
” Climate crisis-driven sweltering summers in Europe are now a reality that many tourists are waking up to. Interest in visiting hotter Mediterranean countries dropped in 2023 amid record heat waves and wildfires, with more temperate destinations becoming increasingly popular, experts say. Recent heat-fueled deaths and disappearances in Greece, including that of the British TV personality Michael Mosley, have the potential to further fuel this northward shift, as incidents of extreme h.
