Last month was the hottest July on
record in Italy, with temperatures holding at highs not seen
since at least 1800, climate specialists at the national
research centre said Tuesday.
Temperatures were on average, 3.6 degrees Celsius above the
average for the reference period of 1971 to 2000 used by
climatology specialists in the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences
and Climate of the National Research Council (ISAC-CNR) in
Bologna.
The heat last month even exceeded by about one degree the
previous high-temperature wave of July 2003, which was an
average of 2.6 degrees C above the reference-period average.
In fact, in 2003 there were four monthly records set for
exceeding the reference-period average: May, June, July and
August, researchers said.
Along with the heat, little rainfall was recorded in July
2015, they noted.
Meanwhile, a new African weather system will continue to
bring blasting heat into Italy, particularly in the centre-north
parts of the peninsula, said Edoardo Ferrara, meteorologist at
3bmeteo.com.
"After record heat in July, August seems to be following in
the same footsteps," said Ferrara.
Weather masses from Algeria are blowing directly up the
west coast of Italy, reaching even beyond the country's
northernmost Alps.
Regions hit hard will include Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio and
Sardinia, where the heat wave will last as long as eight more
days - almost to mid-August.
Health warnings were being issued for some of the hottest
cities including Bari, Cagliari, Palermo, Bologna, Florence,
Perugia, Rome, and Reggio Calabria.
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