Disastrous flooding underway in Greece as extreme weather swarms Europe
A potentially catastrophic flooding event is unfolding in Greece amid an extreme weather pattern in Europe that is bringing exceptional heat over a swath of the continent and that just spurred a deadly deluge in Spain.
Greece’s severe flooding follows a spate of deadly summer wildfires, both of which scientists fear will become more common with human-caused climate change.
Extraordinary amounts of rain have already fallen in portions of Greece since Monday, and forecasters are predicting rain totals of at least 20 to 30 inches in some locations through Wednesday from what national meteorological services in southeast Europe are calling Storm Daniel. One man has died and cars have been washed away in the Greek port city of Volos, according to Reuters. Photographs and videos posted to social media show city streets turned into raging rivers in the Thessaly region and Skiathos, a small Greek island, submerging vehicles and damaging roads.
“This could become one of Europe’s biggest flooding disasters, exceeding the Western Europe July 2021 floods,” Jonathan Wille, a research meteorologist at ETH Zurich, said on social media platofrm X, formerly known as Twitter.
Similar scenes were seen over the weekend in Spain as record rainfall shut down transportation and prompted helicopter rescues from roofs. At least three people were reported dead and others missing in Toledo, while several subway lines were temporarily closed Monday in Madrid. Castile-La Mancha, Catalonia and Valencia also recorded heavy rain and hail.
The extreme flooding and heat are related to a stalled-out weather pattern that human-caused climate change could make more common.
At the center of what is known as a “blocking pattern” is a heat dome over western Europe that is spreading record warmth across much of the continent. Heat domes are sprawling areas of high pressure that can trap heat beneath them for days, weeks or – in the case of the southern tier of the United States this summer – even months.
Low pressure that formed to the west of the heat dome triggered severe flooding in Spain, while an area of low pressure to the east of the heat dome is helping to draw in moisture from the Mediterranean Sea to fuel the flooding in Greece. Like most of the world’s oceans, water temperatures in the Mediterranean are running warmer than average, which can lead to stronger storms and heavier rain on land.
The heat started to build in western Europe on Sunday. More than 200 monthly temperature records were broken in France on Monday, as many locations soared to near and above 95 degrees Fahrenheit . About a dozen French cities also saw record-warm lows with nighttime temperatures only dipping to around 70 to 75. In Spain, Monday’s low temperature in Lleida dropped only to 74.3, an all-time record-warm low temperature for the city.
Temperatures this week could reach as high as 104 in France and 91 in southern England, after London already topped out at 86 on Monday. Ireland, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands are among other countries expecting record-challenging heat this week.
Greece’s weather service predicted that Thessaly, Sporades, central and eastern Sterea, northern Evia and the Peloponnese would receive the heaviest rainfall as well as hail and frequent lightning. Strong winds were expected near the Aegean Sea. An English translation of a “Red” alert displayed on the agency’s website warned people to “take precautionary measures, be vigilant and act on the advice of the relevant authorities.”
Zagora had already recorded an incredible 21 inches of rain in just 10 hours. Other rainfall totals thus far include 30.7 inches in Zagora, 21.4 inches in Portaria and 11 inches in Volos. The storm also unleashed a siege of lightning and waterspouts.
Some models are predicting central Greece to receive more than 30 inches of rain, reminiscent of hurricane flood disasters in the United States from Harvey in Texas in 2017 and Florence in North Carolina in 2018.
“If this forecast is correct, it would be a truly catastrophic flood event in Greece,” Christopher Castro, a hydrologist at the University of Arizona, said on X.
Fueled by the warm waters of the Mediterranean, Storm Daniel could morph into what’s known as a “medicane” or tropical-like cyclone that occasionally forms over the sea. The storm will continue lashing Greece with rain and wind until drifting south toward the north coast of Libya Thursday and Friday. Long-range models show it eventually migrating east-northeast across the Mediterranean toward Turkey early next week.
The flooding rains come on the heels of a historic wildfire that lasted more than two weeks in northern Greece before it was brought under control. The blaze killed 20 people and burned more than 200,000 acres, larger than the land area of New York City, making it the European Union’s largest fire on record.
The combination of record-setting heat and dry and windy weather has sparked wildfires in Greece all summer long. The heat has not only helped to fuel the fires but it has also made them harder to extinguish by evaporating water released from aircraft flying above. Areas burned by wildfire are at an increased risk for flooding and mudslides because there are fewer trees and plants to absorb rainfall, and in some cases burned soil can even repel water.
Scientists say that climate change is increasing the risk of wildfires in Europe and worldwide because of rising temperatures and more intense drought conditions.
Jason Samenow contributed to this report.