"The weather conditions have been unprecedented, we have never had a heat wave lasting for eight straight days," development ministry general secretary Nikos Stefanou told private Flash Radio.

The health ministry said that five people had succumbed to searing temperatures expected to hit 44 degrees Celsius (111.2 Fahrenheit) in some areas, most of them pensioners with prior medical problems.

Media reports pushed the heatstroke death toll to eight.

Cooled facilities are maintained by local councils for those without air-conditioning at home and even police stations have been told to provide rest areas for the elderly and pregnant women, but Greece's electricity network has begun to buckle from the accumulated demand for power.

The Greek state-owned public power corporation on Tuesday apologised to customers over long blackouts registered in the northern Athens suburbs of Halandri and Psychiko, and the development ministry on Wednesday said the grid's performance has been nothing short of miraculous.

"It was a miracle, the grid handled tremendous demand," Stefanou told Flash.

"The distribution network in some areas in Athens was built to handle population loads only a fifth of what they are today," he said.

A high of 46 degrees Celsius was recorded in Athens on Tuesday, the highest since temperature recordings began in Greece 110 years ago, Ta Nea daily said.

Large sections of Athens were without power on Wednesday morning, including part of the port of Piraeus and the populous municipality of Peristeri.

The Greek army has called off exercises and civil servants are being sent home early to save energy.

Dozens of wildfires have broken out in rural areas of northern, southern and central Greece and threatened homes before being brought under control, but fire risk remains high in several parts of the country.

The heatwave is expected to abate from Thursday.

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