The climate in Turkey

In general, Turkey has a Mediterranean climate with hot and dry summers and mild but humid winters. The coastal regions of the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts have a mild climate with high humidity. Summers are long and hot, with temperatures often reaching over 30 °C. Winters, on the other hand, are mild and rainy.

Turkey's interior, including the central Anatolian plateau, has a continental climate with hot summers and cold winters. Temperatures can reach 40 °C in the summer months and drop below freezing in the winter. The region also experiences significant temperature fluctuations between day and night.

The Black Sea region on the northern coast of the country has a temperate climate with high rainfall throughout the year. Summers are warm and humid, while winters are mild but rainy, and snow may fall at higher elevations.

The eastern mountainous regions of the Taurus and Zagros Mountains have a harsher climate with long, cold and snowy winters and only fairly short summers.

Temperature records of the last 74 years

The hottest temperature measured from 1949 to January 2023 was reported by the Finike weather station. In October 2010, the record temperature of 52.8 °C was reported here. The hottest summer from July to September, based on all 64 weather stations in Turkey below 1,880 meters altitude, was recorded in 2010 with an average temperature of 25.3 °C. This average temperature will normally be measured every four to six hours, thus also including the nights. Normally, this value is 23.4 degrees Celsius. The average maximum daily temperature at that time was 32.2 °C.

The coldest day in these 74 years was reported by the Erzurum weather station. Here the temperature dropped to -36.0 °C in January 2009. Erzurum lies at an altitude of 1,758 meters above sea level. The coldest winter (January to March) was in 1992 with an average temperature of 0.7 °C. In Turkey, it is usual to have about 3.7 degrees more at 4.5 °C for this three-month period.

The most precipitation fell in July 2009. With 322.5 mm per day, the Izmir weather station recorded the highest monthly average of the last 74 years. Incidentally, the region with the most rainfall for the whole year is around Rize. The driest region is near Konya.

Long-term development of temperatures from 1949 - 2022

In contrast to single record values, long-term development cannot simply be brought about by all weather stations in the country. Both the number and the locations are constantly changing. An average value would give a distorted result. If several measuring stations in particularly cold mountain or coastal regions are added in one year, the average would decrease as a result of this alone. If a station fails during the summer or winter months, it does not provide any values and distorts the average again. The subsequent long-term development was therefore reduced to only 8 measuring points in order to have comparable data over as long a period as possible.

In the years 1949 to 2022, there were only these 8 weather stations in the whole country, which reported continuous temperature values. From these weather reports, we have created a long-term development that shows the monthly average temperatures. The hottest month in this entire period was August 2010 at 27.7 °C. January 1950 was the coldest month with an average temperature of -3.1 °C.

The average annual temperature was about 12.6 °C in the years after 1949 and about 14.7 °C in the last years before 2022. So in less than 74 years, it has increased by about 2.1 °C. This trend only applies to the selected 8 weather stations in Turkey. A considerably more comprehensive evaluation of global warming has been provided separately.

Data basis and methodology

The data from the individual measuring stations are based on the archives of the German Weather Service, individual values averaged and supplemented by own elements. In order to determine a representative national average, average values were first calculated for each part of the country, which were then summarized at the national level. Thus, if a disproportionate number of weather stations are located in a small area, their number does not affect the national average. There are 64 stations in Turkey itself. In 15 cases, neighboring but nearby weather stations were also used to obtain more accurate values.