This means that even healthy people can face negative physical effects. The Air Force’s weather service predicts temperatures of around 38 degrees in Rome and Florence, and between 36 and 37 degrees in Bologna and Perugia.
It could be particularly hot in some areas of the southern Italian regions of Apulia and Basilicata, as well as on the Mediterranean island of Sicily. In some places, temperatures could even reach 40 degrees. A high pressure area has been bringing high temperatures to Italy for several days. The relatively high humidity in particular makes the heat in the cities difficult to bear.
Warning of severe weather
According to meteorologists, the heat wave will continue until Sunday. Wednesday will be particularly hot. On that day, the highest heat warning level will apply in 22 cities. After that, a slight cooling with more bearable temperatures is expected in some regions, especially in the north. This could be accompanied by storms and heavy thunderstorms.
Thaw on Mont Blanc
The effects of the heat wave in Italy have also reached the highest mountain in Europe. The air temperature on the 4,805-meter-high Mont Blanc was above zero for 33 hours over the weekend. This was announced by the regional environmental agency ARPA for the northern Italian Aosta Valley on Monday.
“The air temperature recorded by the automatic weather station on Colle Major at an altitude of 4,750 meters was above zero for 33 hours from midnight on August 10 to 9:00 a.m. on August 11,” the environmental agency said. According to ARPA, such high temperatures were also recorded for shorter periods on August 5 (five consecutive hours) and on July 18 and 30.
Heavy glacier melt
Persistent high temperatures at high elevations are responsible for the heavy glacier melt and rapid loss of snowpack, according to ARPA. Temperature data provided are “hourly averages measured by two separate thermometers installed in accordance with standards.”
Mont Blanc on the border between France and Italy is – according to current calculations – the highest mountain in the Alps at 4,805.59 metres. Both France and Italy have a share in the mountain, although the exact border has long been disputed.
