Two men died on beaches in Sardinia on Wednesday as Italy’s extreme heatwave continues to cause fatalities and strain emergency services.
A 75-year-old man died after falling ill in Budoni on Sardinia’s north-eastern coast. Emergency services, including a helicopter, were unable to save him. A second man, aged 60, died shortly afterwards on the nearby beach of Lu Impostu in San Teodoro. He also suffered a sudden illness, and resuscitation attempts failed.
Temperatures in Sardinia have exceeded 40°C in recent days. The intense heat has now led Italy’s health ministry to place 18 cities on red alert, the highest warning level, which indicates risks even for healthy individuals.
The cities affected on Wednesday include Rome, Milan, Florence, Bologna, Palermo, and Turin, among others.
Fatalities and rise in emergency room visits
The rising death toll highlights the ongoing danger. A 70-year-old truck driver was found dead in his lorry on the A4 motorway, with heat a likely factor. In Palermo, a 53-year-old woman with a heart condition died in Tuesday’s heat. A construction worker near Bologna and a man in flood-hit Bardonecchia also lost their lives earlier this week.
Emergency room visits have risen by up to 20% across Italy, according to Alessandro Riccardi, president of the Italian society of urgent and emergency medicine (SIMEU). He said many of those affected are elderly or chronically ill, as heatwaves can exacerbate existing conditions.
Anti-heat protocol
The Coldiretti agricultural group has called for urgent measures to protect the half a million seasonal farm workers facing dangerous conditions in the fields. A new anti-heat protocol is due to be signed at the labour ministry on Wednesday. The draft agreement includes proposals for shift reorganisation, health monitoring, and appropriate clothing. It also includes the use of social safety nets if work must be paused due to climate emergencies.
Meanwhile, cities such as Florence, Bergamo and Milan suffered power cuts as the demand for air conditioning overloaded the network.
Italy, among Europe’s most climate-vulnerable countries, has seen a sharp rise in deadly weather events. According to Germanwatch’s Climate Risk Index 2025, over 38,000 people died in Italy due to extreme weather between 1993 and 2022. The report ranked Italy as the fifth most-affected country globally in that period.
Scientists continue to link these events to the global climate crisis driven by human greenhouse gas emissions, mainly from fossil fuel use.
