The exceptionally heavy rainfall that affected many parts of northern Italy in May has put an end to the severe drought affecting almost the whole of the river Po, the district basin authority said on today.
The exceptionally heavy May rains, causing the flood and landslide emergency in Emilia Romagna, brought river Po runoff levels back to normal values. The basin authority reported the news today.
In the northern Great Lakes region, water levels in Lake Garda returned to average in the first half of June, following on from those in lakes Maggiore and Como.
Until recently northern Italy had been grappling with a severe drought impacting water supplies and agriculture resulting from a hot, dry summer in 2022 followed by low levels of rainfall and snow last winter.
However, May brought two separate bouts of extreme rainfall. Exacerbated by the drought, the the rains caused widespread flooding and landslides that left 15 people dead in Emilia Romagna. It also caused billions of euros of damage, destroying crops.
