Throughout the warmer months from May to October, you would rarely see clouds in the sky. This part of Greece really does get a lot of sunshine in those months, with hardly ever a cloud or even a drop of rain. But as the year transitions into December, then January and on through April, clouds become quite common again with much rain and even some very chilly temperatures.
Last year (January 26, 2022), this part of Greece and much of the rest of the country experienced some uncommon cold and snow storms. Snow storms hit the Attica area so hard that a major highway between the city and the airport was shutdown, with people stranded for many hours because there was so much snow and automobiles simply got stuck. While many parts of Greece do get snow (Northern Greece, and those parts in the mountains at a high altitude even near Athens), it’s not common in the lowland areas, especially as you travel southward.
There have been exceptions of course, and 2022 was one of those exceptional years. Here in Spiliazeza, it’s been quite “average” so far this winter while last year, there were many days of high gale force winds for days on end blowing off the sea, and temperatures that dropped below freezing frequently at night, with some day time highs not much above zero Celsius.
January of 2023 has turned into a lamb compared to last year. It still gets chilly with night time lows at 8C, and for many in Greece, even that can be hard to handle with the fact that home heating is expensive when most heat with electricity. Home in Greece are not built with winter chill in mind; there is no insulation in the walls or roofs. Homes and apartments here are built more with the hot summer temperatures in mind, and the fact Greeks don’t spend much time indoors during those months, except to sleep and maybe cook meals.
We haven’t had snow at all this year, which last year, continued from late January into even March. Just chilly, and some dampness.
But indeed, we’ve had some nice days, with the clouds forming a visual delight in the distance, just like this over Makronisos.