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WEATHER

Autumn begins in Italy with ‘fresh’ weather

Autumn has officially begun and is forecast to bring with it cooler temperatures across most parts of Italy - at least, for now.

Published: 23 September 2023 16:32 CEST
Autumn begins in Italy with 'fresh' weather
Rain pours over the Roman Forum. Wet and cool weather is expected as autumn begins in Italy. (Photo by Vincenzo PINTO / AFP)

Intense heat has been the theme of Italy this summer, with multiple heatwaves and resulting climate events, including wildfires and floods.

As Saturday marked the autumnal equinox, officially ending summer, Italy is due some reprieve. Cool air and “fresh winds” are projected to put an end to the scorching temperatures, according to Italian weather website Meteo.it.

Rain and thunderstorms are expected on Sunday in the central and southern regions, causing a “further drop in temperatures”.

Fine weather is expected for most of northern Italy on Sunday, the north of Tuscany and Sardinia. Clouds elsewhere, with showers and thunderstorms across Le Marche, Abruzzo, Molise, lower Lazio and all the southern regions.

“Anomalous” heat is expected only in the most southern parts of the peninsula.ย 

A continued cold front is predicted to cause thunderstorms across central and southern regions on Monday, while the north is expected to be fine.

Cloudy conditions with sunny spells are predicted for Sardinia. Isolated showers and thunderstorms are expected in Abruzzo, Molise, Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria and Sicily.

The beginning of the week will also be characterised by temperatures “generally close to normal”, while midweek could see mercury levels rise once again and a return to “unusually warm weather” for the period.

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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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