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WEATHER

MAP: The hottest parts of Italy this weekend

Italy has placed 16 cities under ‘red alert’ on Saturday as the latest intense heatwave sweeps the country.

Published: 5 August 2022 10:56 CEST
Updated: 5 August 2022 14:43 CEST
MAP: The hottest parts of Italy this weekend
Rome is sizzling this week in higher temperatures than the seasonal average. Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP)

Italy’s latest heatwave is set to peak in all parts of the country “within the next 24-36 hours”, according to weather reports on Friday, with temperatures of “38-40°C in the shade, in particular in the Po Valley, Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio”.

The cities and provinces of Perugia and Palermo are already under the maximum level ‘red alert’ heat warning on Friday, August 5th.

READ ALSO: What temperatures can we expect in Italy in August?

The number rises to 16 on Saturday, with the addition of Bolzano, Brescia, Campobasso, Florence, Frosinone, Latina, Milan, Rieti, Rome, Turin, Trieste, Venezia, Verona and Viterbo.

‘Red alert’ or bollino rosso heat warnings indicate extreme conditions that can be harmful to the health of the general population.

Many other cities in northern and central Italy on Friday were under level two ‘amber alert’ warning, which mean extreme heat poses a risk to more vulnerable groups such as the elderly or very young.

Weather warnings in place in Italy’s main cities for Friday, August 5th. Image: Italian Health Ministry

The stifling conditions in many areas will also worsen air pollution, the ministry warned, meaning that those with respiratory problems or allergies are also liable to suffer.

But even those in good physical health are at risk of dehydration, sunstroke, sunburn and exhaustion, authorities warn.

After a series of prolonged heatwaves this summer, the good news is that the current one won’t last as long, forecasters said on Friday.

“In the north we will see a drop in temperatures already on Sunday, in the centre from Monday, and probably from Tuesday we will be able to breathe again in the south, even with some scattered rain,” wrote Antonio Sanò, director of the Il Meteo weather website.

READ ALSO:

The health ministry is urging people to take precautions including staying indoors in the afternoon when the heat is most intense, drinking plenty of water, and avoiding physical exercise during the day. It also asks people to check on neighbours living alone, particularly the elderly.

The government has also reminded people not to call emergency services unless essential to avoid overstretching resources.

In Italy, prolonged hot and dry conditions this year so far have already resulted in the worst drought in 70 years and a wildfire season three times worse than average.

Experts have repeatedly attributed the increasing frequency and intensity of heatwaves and other extreme weather events in Italy to global heating.

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CLIMATE CRISIS

‘Extreme’ climate blamed for world’s worst wine harvest in 62 years

World wine production dropped 10 percent last year, the biggest fall in more than six decades, because of "extreme" climate changes, the body that monitors the trade said on Thursday.

Published: 26 April 2024 08:48 CEST
'Extreme' climate blamed for world's worst wine harvest in 62 years

“Extreme environmental conditions” including droughts, fires and other problems with climate were mostly to blame for the drastic fall, said the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) that covers nearly 50 wine producing countries.

Australia and Italy suffered the worst, with 26 and 23 percent drops. Spain lost more than a fifth of its production. Harvests in Chile and South Africa were down by more than 10 percent.

The OIV said the global grape harvest was the worst since 1961, and worse even than its early estimates in November.

In further bad news for winemakers, customers drank three per cent less wine in 2023, the French-based intergovernmental body said.

Director John Barker highlighted “drought, extreme heat and fires, as well as heavy rain causing flooding and fungal diseases across major northern and southern hemisphere wine producing regions.”

Although he said climate problems were not solely to blame for the drastic fall, “the most important challenge that the sector faces is climate change.

“We know that the grapevine, as a long-lived plant cultivated in often vulnerable areas, is strongly affected by climate change,” he added.

France bucked the falling harvest trend, with a four percent rise, making it by far the world’s biggest wine producer.

Wine consumption last year was however at its lowest level since 1996, confirming a fall-off over the last five years, according to the figures.

The trend is partly due to price rises caused by inflation and a sharp fall in wine drinking in China – down a quarter – due to its economic slowdown.

The Portuguese, French and Italians remain the world’s biggest wine drinkers per capita.

Barker said the underlying decrease in consumption is being “driven by demographic and lifestyle changes. But given the very complicated influences on global demand at the moment,” it is difficult to know whether the fall will continue.

“What is clear is that inflation is the dominant factor affecting demand in 2023,” he said.

Land given over to growing grapes to eat or for wine fell for the third consecutive year to 7.2 million hectares (17.7 million acres).

But India became one of the global top 10 grape producers for the first time with a three percent rise in the size of its vineyards.

France, however, has been pruning its vineyards back slightly, with its government paying winemakers to pull up vines or to distil their grapes.

The collapse of the Italian harvest to its lowest level since 1950 does not necessarily mean there will be a similar contraction there, said Barker.

Between floods and hailstones, and damp weather causing mildew in the centre and south of the country, the fall was “clearly linked to meteorological conditions”, he said.

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