Blistering heat has prevailed across Turkey over the past few weeks. But the scorching weather, which boosted electricity use and drove frustrated residents of big cities to beaches and vacation resorts, may finally come an end over this weekend, experts say. Dubbed "eyyam-ı bahur" (an archaic Turkish word with Arabic origin which means days of extreme heat), the dog days took over the country in late July and early August. Temperatures reaching over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) are also blamed for challenging extinguishing efforts for wildfires raging across Turkey since last week.

Temperatures are set to decrease by up to 5 degrees Celsius degrees on Saturday according to the weather forecast, providing relief from the hottest days of summer stemming from a heat wave from Africa.

Professor Zafer Aslan, an expert of atmospheric science from Istanbul Aydın University, told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Thursday that temperatures reached as high as 45 degrees Celsius, particularly in southern and eastern regions. Aslan says that, though temperatures would not drop much, they predicted precipitation for Istanbul this weekend, along with the western Mediterranean region where popular vacation resort towns are located. However, for the rest of August, temperatures will remain up to a degree above seasonal normals all across the country, except northeastern regions and along the Mediterranean coast.

Aslan said forest fires in the country were worsened by the extreme temperatures and climate change and drought prevailing across Mediterranean basin will only increase the number of fires. "Climate scenarios show a rise in the frequency of forest fires caused by heat waves. Even a one-degree rise increases fire risk by 30%," he said.

Though rainfall is expected to follow the dog days, another expert warns that no precipitation is forecast for fire-hit areas. Adil Tek, head of the Laboratory of Meteorology at Boğaziçi University Kandilli Observatory in Istanbul, says the drop in temperatures will only decrease the fire risk. Tek told Demirören News Agency (DHA) on Thursday that temperatures may drop by as much as 10 degrees Celsius in some regions and he expected rain in parts of the Marmara region, in the west and in the Black Sea region in the north.

Dog days are nothing new in Turkey, which is home to a diverse climate, mostly warm and arid in its central, western and southern regions. However, climate change increased their intensity and frequency, according to experts. Professor Ecmel Erlat, a climatologist from Ege University in the western province of Izmir, says the number of days with extreme temperatures reached new highs in the past two decades and that Turkey will be exposed to more and longer heat waves in the future. Erlat told AA that days of extreme temperatures increased in the second half of the 20th century, and the trend has only become worse in recent years. "Turkey will now see four different heat waves in a year on average," he warned.