Greece Enforces Afternoon Work Pauses Amid Blistering Heat Wave

Greece has mandated businesses to stop heavy outdoor work during afternoon hours this week due to extreme heat. The heat wave is expected to see temperatures reach 42-43°C, prompting work pauses from midday until 5 pm for various sectors. Greece, along with other regions globally, faces the impacts of severe heat, power outages, and wildfires linked to climate change.

Greece has mandated several businesses to halt heavy outdoor work during afternoon hours this week, as a severe heat wave blankets the country. Builders, food delivery riders, couriers, and shipwrights must pause from midday until 5 pm, with temperatures forecasted to reach 42-43°C, the labor ministry announced.

Across the globe, regions including the United States and India have experienced extreme heat this summer, leading to power outages and wildfires. Greece has repeatedly faced high temperatures disrupting daily life since June, igniting hundreds of wildfires fueled by strong winds, following an unusually warm winter attributed by scientists to global climate change.

Meteorologists predict the heat will persist through the month, exacerbating water shortages on Greek islands that attract millions of tourists. "At times I get headaches, dizziness, blurry vision," said 44-year-old street cleaner Adamantia Krassa. "In such high temperatures, I believe we should stop working after a certain hour, pause, and then resume."

A Red Cross mobile unit stationed at Syntagma Square in Athens offers aid to passers-by. "We are enduring a prolonged period of high temperatures. This physical strain adversely affects the human body," noted the unit's coordinator, Dimitra Tsekoura.

Last month, at least six tourists, including British television presenter Michael Mosley, succumbed to the intense heat.

(With inputs from agencies.)