A woman plays in a fountain during a hot day in Thessaloniki, Greece, July 21, 2025. REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis
ATHENS (Reuters) -Greece and the wider Balkans sweltered under the third heatwave of the summer on Tuesday, with labourers barred from work, tourists kept away from the ruins and firefighters battling blazes scattered across the arid countryside.
Couriers, food delivery riders and builders in and around Athens and other regions were ordered to pause work from midday until 5 p.m., as the temperature was expected to climb as high as 43 degrees Celsius (109.4 F), the labour ministry said.
