Italy’s third heatwave of the summer will continue until at least Monday 20 July, forecasters said on Thursday, with the south set to be fully drawn into the extreme heat for the first time this season.
After the second heatwave brought extreme peaks of 38-40°C, more very high temperatures are on the way in the days ahead. Between Friday and Saturday, intense thunderstorms are expected along the central-southern Apennines and across much of the north and the Po Valley, before temperatures climb sharply again from Monday.
Red alerts in Florence and Perugia
Florence and Perugia will be under a red heat alert on Friday and Saturday, meteorologist Lorenzo Tedici of iLMeteo.it said, while a high of 43°C is forecast for inland Sardinia on Monday.
For now, the number of cities under the maximum red alert remains relatively limited: on Thursday, only Florence held bollino rosso status, with Perugia set to join it on Friday and Saturday. But Tedici said a new pattern appears to be taking hold, with highs of 34-35°C becoming the new normal even outside the reddest alert zones.
Unlike the two heat waves that preceded it this summer, this third spell is expected to fully engulf southern Italy as well as the centre and north, according to the forecast.
The Italian health ministry’s red alert, or bollino rosso, is the highest of three levels on its heat-warning scale, signalling a health risk to the general population and not only to vulnerable groups such as the elderly, young children and those with chronic illnesses.
