Icy cold, snow blanket Italy

(ANSA) - Rome, December 31 - As many Italians brushed away the snow to celebrate New Year's Eve Wednesday, even the normally sunny island playground of Capri suffered frozen pipes as temperatures dropped well below zero.
    Forecasters had warned of a snowy week with unusually cold temperatures throughout Italy, and their predictions were proven by icy winds and snow throughout much of the south including the coastal towns of Bari, Brindisi, and Taranto.
    Molise region was paralyzed while the dazzling clear blue skies above the capital city of Rome lured tourists into the biting, Arctic-inspired winds that brought temperatures as low as -8 degrees C.
    At least one death was blamed on weather as a homeless man was found dead, likely from the cold, in Grossetto early Wednesday. Even legendary Mount Vesuvius further south was dusted with white snow, temporarily cooling the volcano with a flakes that extended down to its lower regions. Below Vesuvius, in the community of Ercolano and in nearby Naples, red-roofed homes were turned white and then icy by the snow.
    A local hospital received complaints Wednesday that emergency patients and visitors could not reach the facility in Boscotrecase because of treacherous road conditions.
    One man visiting his mother-in-law in hospital there said that even ambulances were having difficulties.
    Highway authorities said some 700 kilometres of Italy's most travelled motorways were in bad condition, blocked by snow and ice including stretches around Florence and Bologna.
    In parts of the central Emilia Romagna region, icy roadways and continued sleet created a traffic hazard, heightened by the heavy holiday traffic.
    On the higher ground in Marche region, winds gusted at times to as strong as 100 kilometres per hour while at the port of Ancona, gales and rough seas prevented ships from docking.
    Civil protection authorities had issued freezing temperature warnings as temperatures were seen to drop as low as -20 degrees Celsius in Abruzzo on Tuesday while snow continued to fall along the Adriatic coast.
    Temperatures at the Gran Sasso Campo Imperatore ski resort in Abruzzo fell to -20 degrees Celsius (-4 degrees F) on Tuesday, where lifts and runs remained closed as a snowstorm with whipping winds battered the area.
    But Premier Matteo Renzi and his family were among the Italians making the most of the crisp winter weather, as he took a brief skiing vacation in the northern region of Valle d'Aosta.