Red alert in Lazio in the Aniene basin. "Stay at home"

Snow, ice, wind and torrential rain have created severe traffic disruptions and swollen rivers, so much so that in Rome the Aniene flooded in the suburbs, flooding several streets in the Tiburtino district. The bad weather gives Italy no respite, hitting above all the Centre-North of the Peninsula. Several initiatives organised to celebrate Epiphany have been cancelled due to the adverse weather conditions, such as the traditional descent of the Befana by the fire brigade in Piazza Navona and the one in the centre of Florence. Hundreds of firefighters and local police were deployed in the capital where an ordinance issued by Mayor Roberto Gualtieri is in force today with a series of prohibitions to protect citizens such as the closure of parks and cemeteries. In the city in the early afternoon, the canals of the Aniene river flooded at Ponte Mammolo, in municipality IV, literally sending several streets 'under water'. A section of Via Tiburtina was closed and a family with a mother and two children evacuated. And the regional civil protection has issued a red alert for the Aniene basin, in the city and province, inviting citizens in that area to stay at home and avoid travelling in the coming hours. Heavy disruptions throughout the Tiburtina quadrant, but also in other areas such as Eur and Ardeatina. Many trees fell in the city: among them a large pine tree ended up on parked cars in Centocelle, fortunately without causing injuries.

Special vigilant remains the Tiber, where the banks remain closed. "The level is above eight metres. It will remain closed for at least a couple of days because it collects water for more than half of the centre of Italy, so it will have to drain slowly. But absolutely no alarm,' explained the head of the Capitoline Civil Protection department Giuseppe Napolitano. Traffic disruptions also on the Autostrada del Sole motorway.

From the early hours of the morning, heavy snowfall affected some stretches of motorway in Tuscany, Emilia Romagna and Friuli. Queues were recorded throughout the day. Autostrade per l'Italia has activated its snow plan with the deployment of about 400 vehicles and over 600 people. To facilitate the operations of the snow vehicles, a temporary ban on heavy vehicles with a full load weight of over 7.5 tonnes was imposed in the morning. A section of the Florence-Siena link road has been closed while the regional civil protection has issued a yellow alert for ice until tomorrow. Snow over the entire province of Modena, Perugia and in the Marche region while in Trieste, where the flakes have been falling since yesterday, the Bora has arrived with sustained gusts lashing the entire coastline.