Extreme Weather Ravages Olive Groves Across Greece, Undermining 2025 Output
Hailstorms of unusual intensity have devastated olive farms across Greece, leaving producers facing severe losses in a year already marked by climate and pest pressures.
The woes of the Greek olive oil sector deepened this year as a bout of severe weather dashed hopes for even a moderate yield in several producing areas, compounding ongoing climate- and pest-related pressures reported earlier in the season.
The producers’ labor has fallen to the ground.
The storm system, named “Adel” by meteorologists, swept from west to east over two days, unleashing torrential rain, squalls and hailstorms that struck olive trees and other crops with unusual force.
Powerful hailstorms pounded olive groves across much of the Peloponnese, damaging branches and knocking olives to the ground.
In the Ilia prefecture of western Peloponnese, the area of Pinia was among the hardest hit. Local media reported that farmers who had not yet harvested suffered an almost complete loss of fruit.
Growers in Ilia faced a similar blow in autumn 2023, when hailstorms disrupted what had been expected to be a robust olive oil yield in the region.
In Messenia, one of Greece’s most important olive oil-producing regions, chestnut-sized hailstones struck high-slope groves, carpeting orchards with fallen olives.
“It took 3–4 hours for the hail to melt,” said Petros Athanasopoulos, an olive farmer from Kalogerorahi. “It looked like it had snowed.”
Athanasopoulos said he had successfully protected his Koroneiki olives from pests this season, only to see the storm sweep away much of his crop.
Nearby, farmer Nikos Giannopoulos estimated a 20-percent loss of his Kalamon table olives, which were ready for harvest. “I wasn’t expecting a robust harvest this year,” he said. “Still, we will have to make do with what’s left.”
Hail can inflict long-term damage by injuring branches and leaving wounds that allow pathogens to enter the tree, increasing the risk of disease.
Significant losses were also reported in the Messenian areas of Manesis, Trikorfo, Sterna and Aristomenis.
In neighboring Laconia, storm Adel caused extensive damage to olive trees in the southwest, particularly around Monemvasia.
“The producers’ labor has fallen to the ground,” said Nelly Koutsandrea, head of the Nomia community, where the storm had a severe impact on local groves.
Nomia, a region dominated by olive cultivation, depends heavily on olive oil production for local livelihoods. “The blow is economic, social and emotional, all at the same time,” Koutsandrea added.
Authorities urged farmers to file compensation claims with ELGA, the country’s agricultural insurance agency.
Across the Aegean, the storm also battered olive groves on Lesbos and Samos. Producers in Karlovasi, on Samos, said the hail “destroyed hundreds of olive trees,” wiping out a year’s work within minutes.
Greece has faced a succession of extreme weather events in recent years, which meteorologists link to climate change.
In September 2023, storm Daniel flooded extensive areas of central Greece and caused severe damage to olive trees in the Peloponnese and on Evia.
Beyond storms, repeated heatwaves and wildfires have compounded pressures on farmers, creating increasingly precarious conditions for olive cultivation.
The Mediterranean is warming 20 percent faster than the global average, according to scientists.
New research presented at the COP30 climate conference in Brazil last month identified the Mediterranean as a global climate hotspot. Findings from the latest scientific assessment show regional temperatures have risen about 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and could climb as much as 5.6°C by 2100. A projected 10- to 30-percent decline in precipitation by century’s end is expected to place further strain on agriculture.