Italy sets new summer heat records

(ANSA) - Rome, August 4 - 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.