Heatwave: cities on red alert to rise to 16

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 14 - Italy's stifling heatwave is set to get even more intense over the weekend, with the number of major cities on red alert climbing to 15 on Saturday and 16 on Sunday, the health ministry said.
    On Friday 10 cities are on red alert, meaning that the heat is so intense it poses a threat to the whole population, not just groups such as the elderly, the clinically vulnerable and very young children.
    They are Bologna, Campobasso, Florence, Frosinone, Latina, Perugia, Pescara, Rieti, Roma and Viterbo.
    Bari, Cagliari, Catania, Civitavecchia and Messina will join them on Saturday, with Palermo coming in on Sunday.
    The current heat wave is forecast to last well into next week, with temperatures climbing above 40° Celsius in some areas.
    A study coordinated by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health and published in the Nature Medicine journal this week estimated that over 18,000 people died in Italy due to the intense heat the nation endured last summer.
    Scientists say the climate crisis caused by human greenhouse gas emissions is making extreme weather events such as heat waves, drought, supercharged storms and flooding more frequent and more intense. (ANSA).