Greece is in drought conditions, with the exception of several areas of Macedonia, Thessaly and central Central Greece, according to an analysis by the METEO team of the National Observatory of Athens.

Based on the analysis, large parts of Crete, the Peloponnese, eastern Macedonia, Thrace and Lesvos are affected by severe or extreme drought (levels 4 and 5).

Many areas of Attica, Evia, western Central Greece and Epirus, as well as many islands of the country are in a state of moderate or severe drought (levels 2 and 3).

Overall, the geographical distribution of soil moisture in the country is not much different from early August, but unseasonably low rainfall in the previous month led to an increase in the intensity of the drought in areas already affected by it, meteo explains.

The assessment of drought conditions is based on soil moisture in the layer between 28 and 100 centimeters below the surface. The water content in this layer is critical to the growth and performance of many agricultural crops and reflects the effect of precipitation, evaporation and runoff/infiltration of water into the soil over a relatively long period of time. When soil moisture in this layer is well below the seasonally normal levels for a particular region, this implies (relative) drought conditions and thus prolonged water stress for crops.