ATHENS: Greece on Monday closed the Corinth canal after a rockfall that followed heavy rain, temporarily blocking a transit route used mainly by commercial ships and pleasure yachts.
The 6.4-km canal serves about 11,000 ships a year, offering a short transit from southern Italy to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea, saving mariners a 700-km (434-mile) journey around the Peloponnese Peninsula. But its 21.5-meter (64-foot) width means it is not a key waterway for ocean-going vessels.
Local station Korinthos TV showed chunks of rock which had peeled off the canal’s steep walls and fallen into the waterway.
“The coast guard was notified today, went to the spot and after seeing the landslide, banned ships from sailing,” a Greek coast guard official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The canal’s operator will need about 15 days to restore it, the official said.
First conceptualized in ancient times, the canal took some 11 years to be built and start operations in 1893.
Greece temporarily shuts Corinth canal for ships after rockfall
Greece temporarily shuts Corinth canal for ships after rockfall
February fifth warmest on record, extreme rain in Europe: EU monitor
- Global temperatures last month were 1.49C above preindustrial times
- Temperatures and precipitation varied widely in Europe
PARIS: The world logged its fifth hottest February on record, with western Europe drenched by extreme rainfall and widespread flooding, the European Union’s climate monitor said on Tuesday.
Global temperatures last month were 1.49C above preindustrial times, defined as the 1850-1900 period before large-scale fossil fuel use drove climate change.
Temperatures and precipitation varied widely in Europe.
The average temperature in Europe was among the three coldest in the past 14 years at -0.07C.
But western, southern and southeast Europe experienced above-average temperatures, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Colder conditions were experienced in northwest Russia, Baltic countries, Finland and its Scandinavian neighbors.
“Wet and dry conditions across the continent showed a pronounced contrast: much of western and southern Europe was wetter than average, whereas the rest of the continent... was mostly drier than average,” the service said in its monthly report.
The United States, northeast Canada, the Middle East, Central Asia and east Antarctica had warmer-than-average temperatures.
- Need for global action -
Sea surface temperatures were the second highest for the month of February.
In the Arctic, the average sea ice extent was at its third lowest level for the month at five percent below average.
In the Antarctic, the monthly sea ice extent was close to average for February — a “sharp contrast to the much below-average” levels observed over the past four years, Copernicus said.
“The extreme events of February 2026 highlight the growing impacts of climate change and the pressing need for global action,” said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which operates Copernicus.
“Europe experienced stark temperature contrasts,” Burgess said.
“Exceptional atmospheric rivers — narrow bands of very moist air — brought record rainfall and widespread flooding to western and southern Europe,” she said.
Human-driven climate change intensified torrential downpours that killed dozens and forced thousands of people from their homes across Spain, Portugal and Morocco between January and February, according to the World Weather Attribution (WWA) network of climate scientists.
