Forecasters predict four days of rain will hit Italy from Friday to Monday. The Liberation Day holiday is likely to be spoiled by stormy weather, weathermen say.
Cloudy weather on Thursday will be accompanied by warm sirocco winds from Africa which will raise temperatures in the centre and south. However, the mercury will drop on Friday and keep falling Saturday, they said.
Andrea Garbinato, meteorologist for iLMeteo.it, said gave his predictions. “Today a low pressure area will deepen on the Tyrrhenian coast, with strong mainly southeasterly winds, namely siroccos. The winds will be accompanied by intense rain over Sardinia and the north-east, with a return to autumn for the centre-north.
“The sirocco winds in the centre and south, on the contrary, will lead to an increase in temperatures with values up to eight degrees above the average for the period.
“As well as the wind we will have rains and they will be feted like a mirage in the centre-north where after months of drought it will rain profusely in the northwest and the Tyrrhenian regions; but also look out for strong rains in Sardinia too.”
For Friday, the forecaster said, “there will be widespread rain in the northeast too, spreading to much of the Belpaese, from the Alps to the Peloritan Belt (in Calabria), in particular up till the afternoon when there will be brief respite.
Storms and further temperature drop
“A second unsettled front is forecast for Saturday afternoon with strong storms and a further temperature drop. This weather front will hit the north and the central belt between Tuscany and Marche; but south of an imaginary line we will have sun and milder temperatures.
“Again south of this geographical line (in central Italy), for the April 25 ‘bridge’ we may see the sun with pleasant temperatures. But above this line the long weekend may require umbrellas and warm coats”.
The question is, will it be enough to stop the drought which has hit the north of Italy this winter? In some towns in northern Italy, mayors have already started issuing fines for water wastage.
