Türkiye’s summer heat to linger until October, expert says

ISTANBUL

Temperatures across Türkiye are expected to dip slightly in the week of Sept. 1, yet autumn will hold off for some time as summer heat is forecast to persist through October, according to a meteorologist.

“Starting Monday [Sept. 1], temperatures nationwide, including Istanbul, will decrease by 1–2 degrees. However, they will not fall below seasonal averages. In Istanbul, temperatures will hover around 32 degrees Celsius,” prominent meteorologist Orhan Şen said.

“Summer will last until October, and even into mid-October, we may experience a warm, summer-like climate,” he added.

Şen also warned that Türkiye, already grappling with drought, will not see the rainfall it desperately needs in the near term.

“Precipitation has declined by 74 percent. We are living through the hottest and driest period in the past 65 years. Agricultural drought is now imminent. Farmers will not be able to plant because the soil has not retained moisture,” he said.

This year, Türkiye has endured one of the driest summers on record. In its third-largest city, the western province of İzmir, authorities began introducing controlled water cuts last month due to plummeting reservoir levels.

At the same time, the country has been battling major wildfires. As of Sept. 1, a forest fire in the western province of Denizli continued into its fourth day, forcing the precautionary evacuation of two neighborhoods.

Climate change, with its rising temperatures and reduced rainfall, intensified massive wildfires in Türkiye, Greece and Cyprus this summer, according to a study published last week.

The study by World Weather Attribution said the fires that killed 20 people, forced 80,000 to evacuate and burned more than 1 million hectares (2.47 million acres) were 22 percent more intense in 2025, Europe’s worst recorded year of wildfires.

Hundreds of wildfires that broke out in the eastern Mediterranean in June and July were driven by temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (about 104 Fahrenheit), extremely dry conditions and strong winds.

WWA, a group of researchers that examines whether and to what extent extreme weather events are linked to climate change, called its findings “concerning."