Heatwave: Italia split down the middle – cooler in the North, red alerts return to the South
The highest alert level is expected in Bari and Palermo this weekend. In the north and centre, the most critical phase now appears to be over
Now that the spell of bad weather – which particularly affected Tuscany, Liguria, Lombardy and Trentino, and which will ease off over the weekend – has passed, the weather in the North will be more bearable but unsettled. In this part of the peninsula, in fact, the ‘37–38-degree spell’ is essentially over. In central Italy, the heat “will be moderate and typically summery”. The south, on the other hand, will continue to be in the grip of the sweltering heat: “The African high-pressure system will persist oppressively until early September, with new extreme peaks of 40–42 degrees”. This is the picture of an Italia split into three zones, as painted by Lorenzo Tedici, the meteorologist in charge of media relations at iLMeteo.it. According to Tedici, it is still too early to say goodbye to the abnormal temperatures that have repeatedly swept across the country since the end of May.
Highest alert
After a few days’ respite, red alerts are returning to the south. Over the weekend, the highest alert level – level three, which indicates emergency conditions with potential adverse effects even on the health of healthy, active people, and not just on that of at-risk groups – is forecast for Bari and Palermo, confirming that the situation remains more critical in the South than in the North. It had been since 16 August that the Ministry of Health’s bulletin had not recorded any red alerts.
In the capital of Apulia, according to estimates from the National Centre of Expertise on the Prevention of the Effects of Heat on Health, part of the Department of Civil Protection, the maximum temperature on Saturday and Sunday – starting at 29 and 28 degrees at 8 am respectively – is set to reach a perceived temperature of 37 degrees.
Yellow and green stickers
On Saturday 22 August, no areas are expected to be on ‘orange’ alert, but several urban centres will be on ‘yellow’ alert: Ancona, Campobasso, Catania, Latina, Messina, Naples, Pescara, Reggio Calabria and Rome. On Sunday, Frosinone will be added to the list, but in Pescara the alert level will return to green.
Throughout the weekend, the majority of the municipalities monitored by the Ministry of Health will remain ‘in the green’, including Bologna, Bolzano, Brescia, Cagliari, Civitavecchia, Florence, Genoa, Milan, Perugia, Rieti, Turin, Trieste, Venice, Verona and Viterbo.
