The Italian health ministry on
Monday activated its summer telephone hotline for emergencies
and advice, with a heat wave that has caused deaths and
disruption set to peak on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The number, 1500, is staffed seven days a week from 9 am
to 6 pm by personnel from the ministry trained to give advice
and coordinate assistance regarding heat-related emergencies.
On Sunday, the heat wave caused the deaths of five elderly
people in Italy - two cyclists and three beachgoers - on a
weekend that saw temperatures as high as 41 degrees in
Alessandria in the northern region of Piedmont.
Across Europe temperatures also soared, reaching more than
40 degrees in Bavaria, Germany, and provoking wildfires and
evacuations in Spain and Portugal.
Back in Italy 10 cities have been put on red heat alert
due to temperatures well above the seasonal average, which will
be between 35 and 40 degrees in many areas on Tuesday and
Wednesday, although humidity will take the perceived
temperatures to over 40 degrees.
A Milan court on Monday allowed judges and lawyers to take
off their robes due to the oppressive heat and the breakdown of
air conditioners.
A hearing for another case, about allegations Pirelli
chief Marco Tronchetti Provera defamed another top Italian
businessman, Carlo De Benedetti, had to be adjourned due to a
series of blackouts in the court building.
The blackouts, probably caused by energy demand from
conditioners short-circuiting the system, caused recordings of
witness evidence to be lost.
"It's a miracle that we got this far," the judge said.
"But this trial must be adjourned now as the minium
security conditions are not in place and we cannot lose other
recordings".
Farmers' association Coldiretti said the heat was
stressing the nation's cows and causing a 10% drop in milk
production on average.
Furthermore, farmers have to give the animals twice as
much water and use ventilators and spray them with water to cool
them down.
"The drop in milk production is on top of an increase in
costs in the cowsheds due to greater energy and water
consumption because the farmers have to help the animals resist
the heat siege," Coldiretti said.
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