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WEATHER

Italian towns switch heating on early as temperatures plummet

Residents in some of Italy's coldest areas have been permitted to crank up the thermostat a week ahead of schedule amid a cold snap affecting most of the country.

Published: 8 October 2021 15:44 CEST
People in many parts of Italy are turning up the heating this week after temperatures plunged.
People in many parts of Italy are turning up the heating this week. Photo: PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP

Mayors of towns including Bolzano and Campobasso have authorised residents to switch on their central heating from Friday, October 8th, a week ahead of schedule.

The mayor of the northern province of Bolzano signed an ordinance allowing heating systems in residential buildings to be switched on from Friday, as temperatures in the area plunged below seasonal averages and were forecast to drop further over the weekend, news agency Ansa reports.

READ ALSO: Rising energy prices: How to save money on your bills in Italy

Meanwhile Campobasso, a city and province located at a high altitude in the southern region of Molise, has also said residents can switch their heating on – but not for more than seven hours a day and without exceeding an indoor temperature of 20C.

In the interests of saving energy, Italy has national rules in place about when different provinces can use central heating (riscaldamento centralizzato) in residential buildings, based on their average seasonal temperature. Many areas also have maximum temperature and time limits.

As you’d expect, northern and mountainous areas are the first to be allowed to switch on the heat in October, while some parts of the south can’t turn up the dial until December.

The first switch-on is usually scheduled for October 15th in areas like Bolzano and Campobasso, which are deemed to be among the coldest parts of the country, in ‘Zone E’.

Other municipalities may yet decide to allow an early switch-on, with a wave of low pressure pushing temperatures down further in the coming days and bringing bad weather across the country.

The ‘Zone E’ designation, which means you can have your heating on from October 15th to April 15th for 14 hours a day, applies to the following provinces:

  • North-west: Alessandria; Aosta; Asti; Bergamo; Biella; Brescia; Como; Cremona; Lecco; Lodi; Milan; Novara; Padova; Pavia; Sondrio; Torino; Varese; Verbania; Vercelli.
  • North-east: Bologna; Bolzano; Ferrara; Gorizia; Modena; Parma; Piacenza; Pordenone; Ravenna; Reggio Emilia; Rimini; Rovigo; Treviso; Trieste; Udine; Venice; Verona; Vicenza.
  • Centre: Arezzo; Perugia; Frosinone; Rieti.
  • South: Campobasso; Enna; L’Aquila; Potenza.

Residents of Cuneo, Belluno and Trento, meanwhile, are in the colder ‘Zone F’, where no heating restrictions apply.

See the full list of zones here.

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WEATHER

Denmark records deepest snow level for 13 years

Blizzards in Denmark this week have resulted in the greatest depth of snow measured in the country for 13 years.

Published: 4 January 2024 14:18 CET
Denmark records deepest snow level for 13 years

A half-metre of snow, measured at Hald near East Jutland town Randers, is the deepest to have occurred in Denmark since January 2011, national meteorological agency DMI said.

The measurement was taken by the weather agency at 8am on Thursday.

Around 20-30 centimetres of snow was on the ground across most of northern and eastern Jutland by Thursday, as blizzards peaked resulting in significant disruptions to traffic and transport.

A much greater volume of snow fell in 2011, however, when over 100 centimetres fell on Baltic Sea island Bornholm during a post-Christmas blizzard, which saw as much as 135 centimetres on Bornholm at the end of December 2010.

READ ALSO: Denmark’s January storms could be fourth extreme weather event in three months

With snowfall at its heaviest for over a decade, Wednesday saw a new rainfall record. The 59 millimetres which fell at Svendborg on the island of Funen was the most for a January day in Denmark since 1886. Some 9 weather stations across Funen and Bornholm measured over 50cm of rain.

DMI said that the severe weather now looks to have peaked.

“We do not expect any more weather records to be set in the next 24 hours. But we are looking at some very cold upcoming days,” DMI meteorologist and press spokesperson Herdis Damberg told news wire Ritzau.

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