The Acropolis was temporarily closed on Tuesday.
The ancient fortress in Athens’ capital, including many ancient Greek ruins, will be closed from 13:00-17:00 local time (11:00-15:00 BST) and 13:00-17:00, the country’s Ministry of Culture said.
Highs (107F) in some European countries are projected on Tuesday, with Category 4 wildfire warnings in place in some regions, showing extremely high risk.
It comes weeks after the fatal early summer heatwaves hit, when wildfires are reported in other parts of the continent, including France and the Catalonia region of Spain.
Changes to Acropolis’ opening hours were announced on Monday after the Extreme Heat returned to Greece on Sunday.
The closure on Tuesday — a high of 38C is expected in the city — is not the first time the Extreme Heat has closed its popular appeal. I did that in June and last July.
Authorities said the closure was due to “worker and visitors safety” on the site, which was visited by tens of thousands of people every day, totaling 4.5 million in 2024.
The country’s Labor Ministry also imposed a mandatory five-hour work suspension for manual outdoor workers between 12:00 and 17:00 on Tuesday in an area set to see the worst heat.
The current heat wave is expected to continue through Wednesday, with the high of 41C, the highest Category 5 wildfire warning – showing government-issued alerts and extreme risk status –
It covers four regions: Attica, Central Greece, Peloponneso and Thessary. Category 4 warnings have been issued for several other parts of the country.
The heat waves begin to break Thursday as temperatures are set to drop significantly.
The public is being urged to remain vigilant, and emergency services are more vigilant, the country’s civil protection said.
This comes after 41 wildfires erupted across Greece on Monday, according to the country’s firefighters. Of those, 34 were included early, but seven remained active until Monday evening.
Elsewhere, more than 18,000 people were ordered to stay at Catalonian homes on Tuesday as wildfires in the eastern Tarragona province of the country was ordered, the government said.
Spain’s emergency military forces are deployed along with 300 firefighters, with strong winds stoking the flames overnight, spreading over 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) of land.
Several other parts of the country — which experienced the hottest June on record — are on high alert about wildfires.
In France, Marseille Provence Airport announced it will be closing on Tuesday due to rapid wildfires nearby.
Meanwhile, more than 1,000 firefighters tackled another wildfire near the southwestern town of Narbonne. Residents evacuated their homes and the highway connecting France and Spain was closed.
Many Western and southern Europe were hit by a burnt early summer heatwave where thousands of people were evacuated and homes and businesses were destroyed.
According to the UN Intergovernmental Commission on Climate Change, human-caused climate change has made heat waves more common.
He says that as the world continues to warm, hot weather will occur more frequently – and become even more intense.
