Storms are sweeping into Italy from
the north to break the recent baking heatwave caused by the
Lucifer anticyclone.
Heavy rain and thunderstorms have caused flooding, traffic
disruption and crop damage in the northeast so far.
There have been over 200 requests for intervention in Veneto.
Fire teams have been called out another 200 times in Alto Adige.
A similar number of interventions was made overnight by fire
crews in Friuli because of a deluge that hit a broad area
between the provinces of Pordenone and Udine.
The River Oglio broke its banks near Brescia.
Meanwhile the rest of Italy continued to suffer intense heat
with Palermo on red alert.
And there were further forest fires in Sardinia, in the Gallura
region.
Widespread rain and some violent thunderstorms are set to break
the recent baking heat wave in the north of Italy, forecasters
said Sunday. The worst of the downfalls are set to hit Piedmont
and Lombardy late Monday and then spread to Veneto and Friuli
Venezia Giulia. The weather front will be marked by intense
downpours, local hail storms, frequent lightning strikes and
gale-force winds, forecasters said.
The civil protection department has issued a weather alert for
the four regions. A yellow alert is in place Monday for storm
risk in Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, and much of Lombardy and
Piedmont. The www.iLMeteo.it website said Monday that the
Lucifer heat wave that has had Italy in its grasp over the last
week will start easing with the arrival of cooler north Atlantic
air Monday, taking temperatures back down 10-12 degrees to
seasonal averages after setting a record of almost 49 degrees C
in Sicily.
The cooler air will spread from the north, with accompanying
rainstorms, to the centre on Tuesday and the rest of the country
on Wednesday and Thursday, the website said. But it will be a
brief respite and temperatures will rise back to 33-35 degrees C
at the weekend, www.iLMeteo.it said. On Monday some seven cities
including Rome, Bologna and Florence were on red heat alert,
while on Tuesday only Palermo will be on that level of alert for
heat.
Summer forest arson fires continued to blaze Monday and two
agriturismi and a home were evacuated near Perugia.
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