Winter to hit Italy this weekend

(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 25 - Winter will hit Italy this weekend with icy rain and snow on low ground, forecasters said Thursday.
    Before that, on Thursday and Friday heavy rain will spell flooding risks for several cities including Rome and Naples.
    Meteorologist Andrea Garbinato, of the website www.iLMeteo.it, warned that storms and very abundant rain will sweep Italy Thursday, with Tuscany, Lazio, Sicily, Calabria and Puglia the worst-affected regions.
    Polar air will start moving into Italy from Friday, he said.
    Further thunderstorms will strike Tyrrhenian areas from Tuscany to Campania Friday with heavy cloudbursts and flooding in Rome and Naples.
    Snow will fall in the Alps above 800-1,000 metres and above 1,300 metres in the Apennines and Sardinia.
    Icy gales will become stronger over the weekend and as well as bringing in more heavy rain in Tyrrhenian regions, turning continuous and persistent in Campania, snow will gradually start falling ever lower, said Garbinato.
    Alpine valleys will see snowfall as well as Apennine hills as low as 800 metres, he said.
    As well as the precipitation, Garbinato said, there will be a marked strengthening of winds, first Libeccio and them Mistral, with very heavy seas breaking onto the land along the most exposed coastlines.
    Temperatures will start falling in the north of Italy Friday and then in the rest of Italy at the weekend, going well below seasonal averages. (ANSA).