The temperature throughout the country fluctuated well above the normal levels in May, according to the network of meteorological stations of the National Observatory of Athens.
In Central Greece, the Peloponnese and Crete it was the warmest May at least since 2010, while for the Cyclades and the Dodecanese it was the second warmest during the same period.
More specifically, in Macedonia and Thrace the average maximum temperature ranged 0.8 degrees Celsius higher than the average value (fourth highest of the decade).
In Western Greece it was 0.9 degrees Celsius higher (the fifth highest of the decade).
In Thessaly, it was 1.5 degrees Celsius higher (second highest of the decade after May 2013).
In Central Greece, the Peloponnese and Crete, it was 1.9, 2 and 2 degrees Celsius higher respectively (the highest of the decade),
In the Aegean islands outside of Crete, it was 1.2 degrees Celsius higher (second highest after May 2018).
The main cause of the prolonged high temperatures in Greece was the prevalence of high barometric pressures in most of the Eastern Mediterranean.
This resulted in the flow of hot gas masses from Africa to the Balkans.
Unlike Greece, in Central and Western Europe, the average temperature of last month was around 4-5 degrees below normal for the season.
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