The year 2026 will begin with below-freezing temperatures in several areas of the country. During the first hours of the new year, snowfall is also expected in Attica, though it is not expected to cause problems.

From New Year’s Eve, the day will be fully wintry and bear no resemblance to today, as ERT meteorologist Nikoletta Ziakopoulou noted. In Attica, morning temperatures will be around 9°C, but during the day they will “drop sharply,” with snowfall occurring in mountainous and semi-mountainous areas. She forecasts snow from Agios Stefanos and further north, “some flakes, not enough to cause problems,” while New Year’s Day will be sunny with no significant change in temperature.

According to ALPHA meteorologist Iliana Koutsoupi, on New Year’s Eve Attica will see sleet in the northern suburbs, followed by snowfall on Mount Parnitha, Penteli, and possibly Hymettus. She said the snowfall will be brief, as sunshine is expected on New Year’s morning. “There will be neither intensity nor duration, so we do not expect problems anywhere,” she noted.

Klearchos Marousakis predicted snow accumulation on Penteli and especially Parnitha. “It will be a good day to escape to the mountainous area of Parnitha to see the scenery” on New Year’s Day.

“Impressive and abrupt”

The cold outbreak will be short-lived but impressive and abrupt, according to Nikoletta Ziakopoulou. From December 31, northerly winds will spread across Greece, bringing a temperature drop and widespread frost in the north. Light snowfall is expected on New Year’s Eve in mountainous and semi-mountainous areas of Evia, the Peloponnese, and Central Greece. Snowfall is also possible on islands such as Thassos and the Northern Sporades.

Iliana Koutsoupi said that from the morning of December 31, snowfall will occur in northern areas such as Halkidiki and Thassos, as well as in the mountains of Thessaly and Eastern Macedonia. By midday, snow is expected in the Aroania Mountains in the Peloponnese, Parnassus, Vardousia, and Evia, where snow may fall as low as 200 meters. From the afternoon, heavier snowfall is expected in central Central Greece, affecting the North Aegean, Lemnos, and Skyros.

Weekend temperature rise

The cold wave is expected to end, and according to Ziakopoulou, temperatures over the coming weekend will reach 20°C in southern Greece, after plunging to -15°C in the north during the first hours of 2026.

EMY forecast for New Year’s Eve

In the north, partly cloudy skies with occasional increases in cloud cover and local rain or sleet. In the rest of the country, increased cloudiness with local rain, while thunderstorms will occur in the southern Aegean until midday. Light snowfall will occur in mountainous and semi-mountainous areas of mainland Greece and Evia.

Winds will blow from northerly directions at 5–7 Beaufort, locally up to 8 Beaufort in the northeastern Aegean in the morning. In the south, westerly winds of the same intensity will prevail until midday.

Temperatures will drop noticeably across most of the country, not exceeding 5–7°C in the north, 10–12°C in the eastern mainland, 13–15°C in the west and northern Aegean islands, and 16–18°C in Crete and the Dodecanese. Frost will occur in the mornings and evenings on the mainland, locally severe in the north.

Attica

Weather: Increased cloudiness with intermittent local rain. Light snowfall initially in mountainous areas and from the evening briefly in areas above 350–400 meters.
Winds: Northerly 4–5 Beaufort, locally up to 6 Beaufort in the east until afternoon.
Temperature: 3 to 11°C.

Thessaloniki

Weather: Generally clear with temporary morning cloudiness.
Winds: North-northwesterly 5–6 Beaufort, locally up to 7 Beaufort at sea in the morning.
Temperature: -1 to 6°C.

Macedonia – Thrace

Weather: Few clouds, occasionally increasing with local rain or sleet in Central Macedonia and light snowfall in mountainous and semi-mountainous areas; from the afternoon briefly in low-altitude areas of Eastern Macedonia.
Winds: Northerly 4–6 Beaufort, locally up to 7 at sea, gradually weakening.
Temperature: -4 to 5–7°C; in Western Macedonia -8 to 3°C.

(The remainder of the forecast for other regions, New Year’s Day, Friday January 2, Saturday January 3, and Sunday January 4 continues in the same vein, with detailed regional conditions, snowfall mainly in mountainous areas, periods of rain, strong southerly winds over the weekend, and a gradual but clear rise in temperatures nationwide.)

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