"They all went for a hike amid high temperatures'

Greek tragedies see five tourists die over 11 days in 40C heat

- BARNEY DAVIS

While the tragic death of Dr Michael Mosely made headlines in the UK, at least four other visitors have died in recent weeks on the idyllic Greek islands, in the grip of a heatwave meteorologists say will “go down in history”.

In some areas, people have been told to stay indoors between 11am and 3pm in the scorching early-summer weather over fears of heat-related deaths. Experts believe the heatwave could be a devastating sign of summers to come, with the country set to be on the front line of global warming. Greece’s longest heatwave on record, lasting 16 days, was recorded in July last year.

The Acropolis in Athens was closed by the authorities during some afternoons last week, as were schools and nurseries, as temperatures soared to 43C in places. Meteorologist Panos Giannopoulos told Greek state television channel ERT: “This heatwave will go down in history. In the 20th century, we never had a heatwave before 19 June. We have had several in the 21st century, but none before 15 June.”

Several cases of tourists dying or going missing have come after people set out on hikes in soaring temperatures. According to the National Observatory of Athens, the highest temperature in the country (43.2C) was registered at Lefkochori in Fthiotida, central Greece, followed by Sparta, in southern Peloponnese, with 43.1C.