Athens recorded coldest Christmas day in 1909, climateHub says
Athens experienced its coldest Christmas Day on record in 1909, when daytime temperatures failed to rise above 4 degrees Celsius, according to a report by ClimateHub citing data from the National Observatory of Athens (NOA).
Records from the historic NOA climate station at Nymphs Hill in the Thissio area show that the unusually cold Christmas occurred on Dec. 25, 1909 under the Julian calendar, corresponding to Jan. 10, 1910 in the modern Gregorian calendar. Nighttime temperatures dropped to around 2C.
ClimateHub noted that December temperatures in Athens typically average close to 10C, making snowfall on Christmas rare, though it has occurred sporadically over the past 125 years, particularly in the early 20th century. Other notably cold Christmas periods were recorded in 1933, 1937, 1953, 1986, 1987 and 1992.
The report also recalled heavy snowfall in Athens on Christmas Eve in 1949, as well as severe winter conditions between late December 1941 and early January 1942, which worsened living conditions during the German occupation.
ClimateHub is coordinated by the NOA’s Institute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing and is supported by the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service National Collaboration Programme.
