Severe weather conditions – including hailstorms and torrential rain – devastated olive groves in Greece in 2025, compounding existing challenges faced by the olive oil sector, Olive Oil Times wrote.
Climate change, including warming temperatures, is adding to the difficulties faced by farmers in the region, with significant losses reported across multiple olive-producing areas, according to the 8 December report.
In November, storm Adel swept from west to east over two days, bringing torrential rain, squalls and hailstorms that struck olive trees and other crops with unusual force.
In the Ilia prefecture of western Peloponnese, the area of Pinia was among the hardest hit, with local media reporting that farmers who had not harvested at that point had suffered an almost complete loss of fruit.
In Messenia, one of Greece’s most important olive oil-producing regions, hailstones struck high-slope groves, Olive Oil Times wrote.
Significant losses were also reported in the Messenian areas of Manesis, Trikorfo, Sterna and Aristomenis.
In neighbouring Laconia, storm Adel caused extensive damage to olive trees in the southwest, particularly around Monemvasia.
The storm also hit olive groves on the islands of Lesbos and Samos.
Greece has faced a succession of extreme weather events in recent years, which meteorologists linked to climate change, Olive Oil Times wrote.
In September 2023, storm Daniel had flooded extensive areas of central Greece, causing severe damage to olive trees in the Peloponnese and on Evia, the report said.
In addition to storms, repeated heatwaves and wildfires have compounded pressures on farmers, creating increasingly precarious conditions for olive cultivation, according to the report.
According to scientists, the Mediterranean region is warming at a 20% faster rate compared to the global average.