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WEATHER

WEATHER: Italy set for another wet and windy Easter weekend

Rain, wind, and a few sunny spells if you're lucky: that's what the Easter weekend is expected to look like across Italy according to weather forecasts.

Published: 14 April 2022 18:38 CEST
WEATHER: Italy set for another wet and windy Easter weekend
Rome's Colosseum is reflected in a puddle, as people walk in the rain. Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP

As the Easter weekend begins, unfortunately forecasts appear to confirm the ‘wet Easter’ trend of the past couple of years, as well as a sudden drop in temperatures. 

According to the latest reports, cold air currents from northern Europe are expected to swoop down on the northernmost Italian regions during the night between Friday and Saturday.

These cold currents are expected to cause rain storms across northern and central Italy all through Saturday.

The regions of Trentino-Alto Adige, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Veneto and Lombardy might also be subject to localised hailstorms, reports Italian weather news site Il Meteo.

Overall, the descent of the above-mentioned arctic currents means temperatures are expected to drop from the 25-27C seen over the last couple of days to around 15-18C this weekend.

On Easter Sunday, conditions will improve significantly in the north and centre of the country – but take your umbrella if you’re in the southern regions of Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria or Sicily, where rain showers are expected again.

Weather conditions should stabilise later on Sunday across the peninsula, with Sicily and the Salento region in Puglia as the sole exceptions: some rain showers and moderate winds might persist in these areas.

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WEATHER

IN PICTURES: ‘Exceptional’ Sahara dust cloud hits Europe

An "exceptional" dust cloud from the Sahara is choking parts of Europe, the continent's climate monitor said on Monday, causing poor air quality and coating windows and cars in grime.

Published: 8 April 2024 14:15 CEST
IN PICTURES: 'Exceptional' Sahara dust cloud hits Europe

Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service said the latest plume, the third of its kind in recent weeks, was bringing hazy conditions to southern Europe and would sweep northward as far as Scandinavia.

Mark Parrington, senior scientist at Copernicus, said the latest event was related to a weather pattern that has brought warmer weather to parts of Europe in recent days.

“While it is not unusual for Saharan dust plumes to reach Europe, there has been an increase in the intensity and frequency of such episodes in recent years, which could be potentially attributed to changes in atmospheric circulation patterns,” he said.

This latest episode has caused air quality to deteriorate in several countries, Copernicus said.

The European Union’s safe threshold for concentrations of PM10 — coarser particles like sand and dust that that can irritate the nose and throat — has already been exceeded in some locations.

A picture taken on April 8, 2024 shows a rapeseed field under thick sand dust blown in from the Sahara, giving the sky a yellowish appearance near Daillens, western Switzerland. – An “exceptional” dust cloud from the Sahara is choking parts of Europe, the continent’s climate monitor said, causing poor air quality and coating windows and cars in grime. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

The worst affected was the Iberian Peninsula in Spain but lesser air pollution spikes were also recorded in parts of Switzerland, France and Germany.

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Local authorities in southeastern and southern France announced that the air pollution threshold was breached on Saturday.

They advised residents to avoid intense physical activity, particularly those with heart or respiratory problems.

The dust outbreak was expected to reach Sweden, Finland and northwest Russia before ending on Tuesday with a shift in weather patterns, Copernicus said.

The Sahara emits between 60 and 200 million tonnes of fine dust every year, which can travel thousands of kilometres (miles), carried by winds and certain meteorological conditions.

The Spanish Canary Islands off the coast of northwest Africa saw just 12 days within a 90-day period from December to February where skies were free of Saharan dust, the local weather agency Aemet had reported.

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