The heatwave is back: three cities are on red alert today, rising to 11 tomorrow
The number of urban centres classified as ‘yellow’ is also on the rise, now totalling 16. Cities are taking action to protect workers from extreme temperatures: Bologna has opened the first municipal ‘Rider House’ to safeguard the health of delivery riders
The grip of the heatwave is tightening once again across the peninsula: there are currently three cities on ‘red alert’ – Campobasso, Perugia and Rieti – and this number will rise to 11 tomorrow, with the addition of Bolzano, Civitavecchia, Florence, Frosinone, Latina, Rome, Turin and Viterbo. According to meteorologists’ forecasts, the fourth heatwave of the year – which arrived in recent days following those that hit the country in late May, the second half of June and mid-July – could last at least ten days and will see temperatures peak at 40 degrees in numerous Italian cities.
The Ministry of Health’s bulletin
The number of urban centres where the alert level is at its highest – with potential adverse effects on the health of healthy, active people, and not just on at-risk groups – has risen exponentially in recent days. On Wednesday 29 July, in fact, the only city in the red zone was Campobasso, and there were ten in the orange zone.
Today, however, not only have there been three ‘red’ alerts, but the number of municipalities in the ‘orange’ category has risen to 16; tomorrow this figure will fall to ten, but only because of the increase in those in the ‘red’ category. By Friday, only Ancona, Bari, Catania, Genoa, Messina and Reggio Calabria will remain in the ‘yellow’ category.
According to Lorenzo Tedici of iLMeteo.it, relief from the extreme temperatures is currently expected on 12 or 13 August, although ‘the heat could persist until Ferragosto, if not beyond’. There will be no respite even at night: “We will endure tropical nights – that is, with minimum temperatures above 20 degrees – and super-tropical nights, with minimum temperatures above 25 degrees, whilst our soil will become increasingly arid,” explains Tedici.
The first municipal “Rider House”
Numerous Italian cities have taken steps to protect their residents from the sweltering heat. The measures introduced by local authorities are focused in particular on the groups of workers most exposed to high temperatures, first and foremost delivery riders. In Bologna, the first municipal ‘Rider House’ has been opened – a free space designed to offer respite to delivery riders, who will have access to water and refreshments, as well as Wi-Fi, charging points for mobile phones and electric bikes, and an area where they can rest without being obliged to make a purchase.
