Although a new Atlantic front is now battering the British Isles and the Scandinavian Peninsula, for the the Mediterranean are dog days, due to an anticyclone, that will give way only in August.

What is the term dog days? It comes from the Latin “canicula” (small dog), that is the ancient name of Sirius, which according to Greek tradition represents one of the two dogs that accompanied the giant Orion in his hunting trips.

The canicola corresponds to the hottest period of the year, between the end of July and the end of August, precisely the time when the sun passes through the constellation of the Great Dog, of which Sirius is the brightest star.

Meltemi Crete – Credits Arno Senoner

With the anticyclone not all the Mediterranean is quiet for sailors: when on the western shores reigns the breezes, which do not risk to mitigate the hotter heat, on the Aegean Sea, the legendary Meltemi inevitably blows very strong.

It is a dry and mild wind, which is generated by the contrast between the high pressure to the W of Greece and the stationary depressions on Turkey, and which blows continuously for days until important changes in the baric field occur to the west.

Alessandro Casarino – Navimeteo