Climate

In 2024, record heat in Italy: +1.33 degrees above the 1991-2020 average

This is what emerges from the report 'The climate in Italy in 2024' by Snpa, the National System for Environmental Protection, composed of Ispra and the Environment Agencies of the Regions and Autonomous Provinces

by Davide Madeddu

5 July 2025

3' min read

3' min read

Ever warmer seas, with a new temperature record for 2024. And then a surplus of rain in the North (+38%), drought in the South and Islands where there are also 146 days in a row without rainfall. Outlining this scenario in which 2024 "was for Italy the hottest year in the historical series" is the Report "The climate in Italy in 2024" by Snpa, the National System for Environmental Protection, made up of Ispra and the Environment Agencies of the Regions and Autonomous Provinces.

New records

"In Italy, two new records have been reached: +1.33 °C for the average temperature and +1.40 °C for the minimum temperature, both calculated with respect to the 1991-2020 reference average," the report states. Particularly high temperatures in February 2024 with a positive anomaly of +3.15 °C. The trend observed at European level is confirmed in 2024 also in our country'.

Still rising temperatures

Looking at the temperature series since 1961 (the year the Report began), since 2000 the anomalies "have almost always been positive" and in 2024 all months of the year were warmer than the reference average. "On a seasonal basis, the highest positive anomaly was recorded in winter, which, at +2.18 degrees Celsius above average, ranks first among the warmest in the historical series".

Not only: "Similarly to the air temperature, the surface temperature of the Italian seas in 2024 is at the top of the series, with an anomaly of +1.24 degrees with respect to the 1991-2020 climatological average (almost 0.3°C higher than the previous record of 2022). Since 2007, the anomalies have always been positive, with the exception of 2010'.

Then there is the case of 2024 when anomalies 'were positive in all months', with highs in August (+2.16 degrees) and July (+1.74 degrees).

The rains

Another significant figure indicated in the report, concerns the cumulative annual precipitation, which "in Italy in 2024 was overall higher than the 1991-2020 climatological average by about 8%". "The rainfall anomaly was positive in the North (+38%), where 2024 represented the second rainiest year in the historical series, close to the average in the Centre and negative in the South and Islands (-18%)," the report argues. "The relatively driest months were November (-71%), normally among the wettest, and July (-35%), while the months with the highest rainfall anomaly were February (+85%) and March (+72%). The analysis on a seasonal basis shows that the summer was less rainy than the norm (-12%), while the other seasons were wetter than the reference average'.

146 consecutive days without rain

And an examination of the maximum number of 'consecutive dry days in the year, showed high values over most of Sardinia and Sicily', where up to 146 were recorded.

"On an annual average, almost 50 per cent of Italy (predominantly southern Italy and the larger islands) has been affected by extreme to moderate drought, due to the combined effect of reduced precipitation and increased evapotranspiration due to high temperatures.

In the national scenario, in the North, due to the abundance of rainfall, the availability of water resources, estimated at 157.9 billion cubic metres, 'has returned to values above the historical annual average (+18.3%), although the trend since 1951 remains negative'.

Extreme Events

In this context, there are also the hydro-meteo-climatic events that occurred during the past year. Among the most significant was the flood of 29-30 June 2024 that affected the Valle d'Aosta and northern Piedmont, caused by rainfall that locally and in a short time reached very high and exceptional values. "During the first months of autumn," the document concludes, "Emilia-Romagna was once again hit by major flooding phenomena following locally exceptional amounts of rainfall that, in a context of soils that were generally already saturated, caused considerable damage to the territory.