ATHENS – The winter of 2022-2023 was the warmest on record in northern Greece and the third-warmest for other parts of the country, according to data collected by the network of 53 weather stations set up by the National Observatory of Athens weather service meteo.gr, which has been operating since 2010.

The highest divergence from average winter temperatures (2.9C) was recorded in Florina, followed by Kilkis, Limnos, Trikala and Thessaloniki, which all had diverged from average temperatures by more than 2 degrees. In Athens, by contrast, the divergence was 0.8C. More than 60 days in the 90-day winter period had higher than normal temperatures for the season in all parts of the country.

In the alpine regions of the country, the 10 meteo weather stations operating at altitudes above 1,500 metres, which provide real time data on prevailing conditions in some of the coldest parts of Greece, showed that the lowest temperatures were recorded at Vathystolo on Mount Parnassus (-23.9C) and in Sesi, Parnassus (-20.7C).

The area with the longest period of below-zero temperatures, 22 days, was also Sesi on Mount Parnassus, though the number of days with icy conditions was significant lower than in previous years. For example, the station at Kaimaktsalan recorded just 34 days of below-zero temperatures, down from an average of 53 days in 2009-2022.