New heatwave: 9 ‘red alerts’ in central and southern Italy between Thursday and Friday; 42.7 degrees in Caltanissetta and Enna

The heatwave is intensifying across central and southern Italy. With the arrival of the fifth heatwave of the year, the number of towns on ‘red alert’ – indicating emergency conditions with potential adverse effects on both the health of at-risk groups and that of healthy, active people – has risen exponentially. Whilst on Wednesday 26 August there were only two – Campobasso and Palermo – by Friday 28 there will be as many as nine: Bari, Cagliari, Campobasso, Catania, Latina, Messina, Palermo, Reggio Calabria and Rome. In numerous southern regions, from Puglia to Sardinia, via Sicily and Campania, temperatures could exceed 40 degrees. Even in some areas of northern Italia, temperatures will rise above the seasonal average, albeit to a lesser extent. The situation will be milder only in the north-west, where maximum temperatures will hover around 30 degrees.

Although there are fewer and fewer days left until the start of September, the scorching heat that has hit the country on several occasions over the summer shows no sign of letting up. According to iLMeteo.it, the return of the stifling heat, following a few days’ respite around the mid-August bank holiday weekend, is due to ‘very hot air masses from the scorching lands of the Sahara, which in the coming days will push strongly towards the Mediterranean basin. This advance will be facilitated by the presence of a trough moving down from the United Kingdom, which will tend to extend towards the Iberian Peninsula’.

Lorenzo Tedici, media manager at iLMeteo.it, has announced that Friday will be ‘the worst day’: Foggia will reach 42 degrees, Benevento, Cagliari, Caltanissetta, Cosenza, Nuoro and Reggio Calabria will hover around 41 degrees, Frosinone and Terni will reach 40 degrees, and Ascoli Piceno and Rome will reach 39 degrees.

The Ministry of Health’s daily heatwave bulletin clearly illustrates the seriousness of the situation. On Friday 28th, only three provincial capitals in the north will be designated as ‘green’: Milan, Turin and Trieste. In numerous other northern cities, however, the first level of alert – the yellow alert – will be in force. This applies to Bolzano, Brescia, Genoa, Venice and Verona, as well as Naples, which has been partly spared the record temperatures currently affecting central and southern Italy. On Friday, Ancona, Bologna, Civitavecchia, Florence, Frosinone, Perugia, Pescara, Rieti and Viterbo will be ‘on orange alert’.

On Wednesday 26 August, temperatures in Sicily exceeded 40 degrees. According to data from the network of stations run by the Sicilian Agrometeorological Information Service (SIAS), Caltanissetta and Enna were the locations that recorded the highest temperatures in the region, at 42.7 degrees. Just behind was Aragona, in the Agrigento area, with 42.3 degrees. Temperatures also peaked at 41 degrees in several towns in the Agrigento, Caltanissetta and Enna areas.