The woman had parked her car on a road beside a public garden, and was walking towards the other side of the street when a huge poplar tree tumbled, killing her instantly, La Repubblica reported.

The mayor of Mantua, Mattia Palazzi, who immediately went to the site of the accident, insisted the tree was “healthy” but said “the mix of wind and water in the violent storm soaked the earth, causing this terrible tragedy.”

“The trees in the garden had been recently pruned, but now we will reduce the height of all of them,” he added.

In Brianza, a 47-year-old had to be airlifted to Milan’s Niguarda hospital after a tree fell on his car, trapping him inside. A 34-year-old fellow passenger, who was found by rescuers outside the car, was also taken to hospital in Lecco with injuries.

In late May, flash floods wreaked havoc in Milan after a violent storm caused 90 litres of water to fall per each square metre of ground within just three hours. No casualties were reported.

In February, five people were killed when storms battered most of the country.

The weather is forecast to be calmer from Thursday, with temperatures creeping up across the peninsula over the next few days.