Italy lashed by late winter storm
Cold spell brings snow to Tuscan cities, floods to Venice
09 March, 17:44
(ANSA) - Rome, March 9 - Thermometers plummeted around Italy
on Tuesday as a late winter storm brought sub-zero temperatures
to the Alps, snow to Tuscany and high waters in Venice just a
few weeks ahead of the first day of Spring.Residents in Siena awoke to find Piazza del Campo, celebrated site of the annual Palio horse race, under a bed of snow that thickened as flakes continued falling throughout the morning.
The leaning tower of Pisa was also glazed in white on Tuesday morning together with Brunelleschi's dome in Florence as temperatures there hovered around freezing.
The mercury dropped far below that in the Alps, to lows of -21.4 degrees C (-5.8 F) in the town of Sestriere near Turin and -18 C (-0.4 F) in Tarvisano in the northeastern corner of the Dolomites. The sudden cold is expected to raise tides in the Venetian lagoon on Wednesday flooding the island-city with 'acque alte' 105 cm above sea level.
Across the Adriatic Sea, authorities in Trieste issued warnings for possible hurricane force winds blowing off the water at up to 115 km/hour uprooting trees and knocking down road signs.
The sting in winter's tail is expected to last through Thursday, according to the Civil Protection Department who held a special meeting on Tuesday in anticipation of emergencies.
The agency said downpours forecast in Sicily and Calabria could provoke further mudslides, like the ones that forced thousands of people from their homes in both regions last month.
