August heat bears down on Turkey with no sign of relief

The weather forecast for the week indicates that temperatures will not drop below 30 degrees Celsius across Turkey, except for a few cities in the north, which will see a 1-degree drop below the 30 degrees Celsius mark.

A heatwave hailing from North Africa is engulfing the entire country and is particularly impacting southern cities known for their warm climate in the summer.

Occasional precipitation may be a relief for northeastern, central and western Turkish cities located near the Central Anatolian region, although only for a brief time.

For Istanbul, temperatures may fall a few degrees thanks to northeastern winds, but the temperatures will rarely drop below 32 degrees Celsius from today and towards the weekend. However, a new heatwave hailing from the Arabian Peninsula will hit Istanbul starting Sunday. This will mean an increase in temperatures of up to 5 degrees Celsius, but below 40 degrees Celsius. Temperatures were as high as 38 degrees Celsius in the city last week. Professor Orhan Şen, a meteorologist at Istanbul Technical University, told media last week that temperatures may even reach up to 48 degrees Celsius at times in Istanbul, linking the unusually hot weather to El Nino - a weather phenomenon associated with rising temperatures in the Pacific Ocean whose indirect effects can be felt as far away as in Turkey.

In Antalya, a southern city hosting several popular summer resorts, the felt temperature was 41 degrees Celsius on Monday with 49 percent humidity. Temperatures will gradually drop starting from tomorrow, from 35 degrees Celsius to 33 degrees Celsius by the weekend. It was 39 degrees Celsius on Tuesday with authorities warning residents to stay indoors, especially at midday.

Experts warn about "dangerously high" temperatures in the southern and southeastern cities, including Adıyaman, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Mardin, Batman, Diyarbakır and Malatya. The highest temperature for tomorrow is expected in Batman at 42 degrees Celsius. Temperatures will fluctuate at 40 degrees Celsius in the abovementioned cities throughout the week.

Adana, a southern city notorious for its unbearable heat, is expected to experience an unprecedented heatwave, with temperatures rising to 41 degrees Celsius yesterday, compared to 36 C - the highest temperature recorded for the city for the past couple of decades.