Rome, Europe Brief News – An intense and unprecedented heatwave is baking Italy, with temperatures in many places topping 40°C.
Temperatures were high across most of Western Europe over the past week. Italy has been hit particularly hard.
Temperatures are expected to soar further in the coming days.
There are hopes that we could soon see the end of the blistering heatwave.
But stormy conditions are not expected to cool things down, with forecasters at weather website IlMeteo.it warning that “maximum temperatures are seeing slight and temporary decreases, but the relative humidity, and therefore the heat, is increasing” in northern areas.
Meanwhile, the south and centre of the country continues to swelter in still, humid conditions, with temperatures in the high 30s expected throughout the weekend.
Weather forecasters warn that the heatwave is set to continue until the end of the month.
Temperatures of “up to 40°C in the shade” can be expected across much of Italy early next week, according to forecasts in newspaper La Repubblica on Thursday.
The Italian health ministry has issued red alerts for extreme heat on Friday and Saturday in and around the cities of Bologna, Campobasso, Florence, and Pescara.
The Italian government is set to announce a state of emergency in the regions of Lombardy, Piedmont, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna, which are suffering the most severe drought seen in 70 years.
