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WEATHER: Italy issues storm and snow warnings ahead of ‘intense’ cyclone

Heavy rain, storms and snowfall are forecast across Italy over the next few days due to the arrival of another cyclone, according to weather reports.

A new intense cyclone is set to sweep through Italy.
A new intense cyclone is set to sweep through Italy. Photo by VALERY HACHE / AFP

After severe storms battered southern Italy last week, a new “intense” cyclone is expected to bring thunderstorms and cold weather from Wednesday, reports national weather forecaster Il Meteo.

The so-called storm ‘Poppea’ will arrive from the north Atlantic, characterised by colder air, bringing with it “a cyclonic vortex” that will form in the stretch of sea between Sardinia and Liguria, in the east of the country.

This is set to cause adverse weather conditions, especially in central and northern regions, according to reports.

READ ALSO: Italy hit by 20 ‘severe weather events’ in a day as Liguria sees record rainfall

The worsening is also expected to reach Campania, where “real cloudbursts with strong winds will be possible, especially near the coasts”.

With the arrival of cold air, Italy is expected to experience “a sharp drop in temperatures, more noticeable in the northern regions” and possible snowfall in the Alpine area “up to relatively low altitudes for the period”, stated Il Meteo.

The areas of Lombardy and the Dolomites are set to be particularly affected “with snow that could whiten places like Livigno, Madonna di Campiglio, Solda and Cortina d’Ampezzo”.

Italy’s Department of Civil Protection has placed the region of Veneto under an orange alert for Tuesday (heavy rainfall, landslide and flood risk), while six further regions have been given a yellow weather warning (localised heavy and potentially dangerous rainfall), including Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Sicily and Calabria.

The Department is responsible for predicting, preventing and managing emergency events across the country, and uses a green, yellow, orange and red graded colour coding system for weather safety reports.

Green signifies calm and stable conditions, while a red weather warning is issued only in the event of widespread, very intense and persistent conditions that pose a threat to public safety.

The further forecasts of storms and heavy rainfall come just one week after Sicily and Calabria suffered extreme weather events, killing three people and submerging city streets and squares.

A rare tropical-style cyclone known as a “medicane” reached Sicily’s eastern coast and the tip of mainland Calabria at the end of last week.

READ ALSO: Climate crisis: The Italian cities worst affected by flooding and heatwaves

The Department for Civil Protection placed eastern Sicily under an amber alert and the highest-level red alert on Friday in anticipation of the storm’s arrival, after almost a week of extreme weather in the area.

Heavy rainfall continued to sweep through Italy on Monday, followed by a brief respite forecast for Tuesday.

The weather is expected to improve from Friday, even though the cyclone is expected to continue circulating over Italy, creating “unreliable” conditions through the weekend.

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WEATHER

Norway to get a taste of summer with 20C days this week

Summer is finally here! Or least it is if you live in southern Norway, where a warm front coming up from Europe will bring t-shirt temperatures of 20C by Thursday, according to forecasts.

Norway to get a taste of summer with 20C days this week

Warm air from southern Europe will combine with a high pressure zone which will bring clear skies and sunshine, with summery weather coming towards the end of the week, Norway’s national weather forecaster Yr has reported. 

“Thursday and Friday especially will be nice,” Ingrid Villa, a meteorologist at the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, told the public broadcaster NRK. “Then we will probably get temperatures of over 20 degrees Celsius in some places.” 

Patches of 20C warmth are expected both in western Norway around Bergen and in Western Norway around Oslo, with the area around Tromsø expected to have slightly cooler weather, although Villa said that “it will absolutely be something like summer there too”. 

The warm sunny weather is, however, expected to pass northern Norway by, with grey overcast skies expected for much of this week. 

But if you think summer has come to Norway to stay, you risk disappointment as much cooler temperatures are expected next week.  

“There’s nothing unusual in getting an early taste of summer in April and the start of May, and then we can quickly go back to cooler more spring-like weather,” Villa said. 

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