Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki – What you should know

Thessaloniki is not an island, and the climate shows it. As a city on the northern edge of the Aegean it sits in the transition to the continental climate of southeastern Europe: summers are hotter than on Crete or Rhodes at 33°C in July and August, while winters are noticeably cooler at 10–12°C. January nights drop to 2°C, and frost is possible.

The rainfall distribution is unusual. Unlike the Mediterranean south of Greece, where summer stays completely dry, precipitation falls here year-round — 42 mm in June, more than in July. Early-summer thunderstorms are normal. Sunshine duration lags the islands accordingly, at 9.8 hours in July against the twelve hours typical there in midsummer.

In return, the Thermaic Gulf is exceptionally warm in late summer: August water typically reaches 29°C, September still 26°C. For the Chalkidiki peninsula south of the city, September is therefore the best month — warm sea, 28°C air temperature and far less bustle than in August, when half of northern Greece is at the coast.