Autumn greets Italy with rainstorms

(ANSA) - Rome, September 23 - Rainstorms, Alpine snowfalls and dropping temperatures greeted the advent of autumn across northern and central Italy on Wednesday. In Milan, traffic snarled as downpours caused metro service to be temporarily suspended on one of the lines, and firemen were called in to deal with flooding and fallen trees. The Seveso and Lambro rivers were being monitored in case of overflowing.
    In Tuscany, Florence-bound trains between Viareggio and Lucca were disrupted due to rain and lightning. Rough seas suspended ferries to the Isola di Capraia. A small whirlwind damaged the roof of a building in Cecina, near Livorno, and water damage caused the collapse of a piece of false ceiling in a branch of the massive supermarket chain COOP.
    The first snow of the season dusted the Brenner pass, on the border of Italy and Austria. Snow also fell on summits in Veneto, near Cortina d'Ampezzo.
    The Atlantic storm front is expected to hit central and southern Italy late Wednesday evening, pounding the peninsula from Emilia Romagna to Calabria at various points with high winds, rain, lightning, and hail.