The National Observatory of Athens has reported that the sea temperatures across Greece are warming faster than normal and are experiencing higher-than-average surface temperatures for early June.

The unusually high temperature readings are attributed to a combination of seasonal heat and the lack of strong winds, which normally help cool the water.

The news is good for tourism, but increased sea temperatures add to a wider and worrying trend as the warming of the sea’s surface is one of the most critical indicators of global climate change, affecting marine ecosystems, tourism, and coastal communities.

With sea temperatures in the Mediterranean rising 20 per cent faster than the global average and sea level rises expected to exceed one metre by 2100, the World Wildlife Fund has stated that it is becoming “the fastest-warming and saltiest sea of our planet.”

In 2024, seas in Greece hit their warmest temperatures in forty years, exceeding 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit) at the height of summer.