Extreme heat splits Italy in two: over 44°C in the South, heavy showers in the North

Sweltering heat still grips Italy, with temperatures above 44°C in the south and islands. Friday sees the peak of the fifth heatwave, and forecasters expect muggy conditions to last into September. The fifth heatwave reached its peak on Friday, splitting Italy in two, with temperatures in the centre and south and on the islands above 40°C, a full ten degrees higher than average, and severe thunderstorms expected to hit the north in the coming hours. High humidity is making matters worse, pushing the perceived temperature at least five degrees above the actual reading, and bringing sweltering nights, known as "tropical" nights, with temperatures in many cases barely dropping below 30°C. Despite a slight improvement forecast for the coming days, meteorologists have warned that temperatures will also remain well above average in September. Nine cities have been placed on red alert for the heatwave emergency, where the health risks linked to extreme humidity and heat are serious even for people not considered vulnerable. They are Bari, Cagliari, Campobasso, Catania, Latina, Messina, Palermo, Reggio Calabria and Rome. Heat emergency in the south and on the islands, slight improvement from Saturday In these urban centres the thermometer hovered between 39°C and 40°C, but the most critical situation was recorded in Calabria, with peaks of 44.6°C in Torano Scalo in the province of Cosenza. The area around Cosenza is currently among the hardest hit, with 42.5°C in Cosenza and 41.7°C in San Cosmo Albanese. Conditions are no better in the other provinces of Calabria, where temperatures have generally been around 40°C or higher. Conditions are also critical in Sicily and Sardinia, with highs of 43°C and "feels-like" temperatures far above the readings on the thermometer. According to the health ministry's heatwave bulletin, a slight easing is expected over the weekend, with six cities on red alert (Bari, Catania, Messina, Palermo, Reggio Calabria and Rome) forecast to fall to four on Sunday (Catania, Messina, Palermo and Reggio Calabria). Also on Friday, extreme temperatures and hot winds fuelled a new emergency on Mount Morrone in Abruzzo. Here, the wildfire that for 15 days had been the main source of concern in the region and was thought to be almost extinguished by Thursday flared up again, making it necessary to deploy more than one hundred personnel on the ground, including firefighters and volunteers from the civil protection service and the army, according to the Ansa news agency. Northern Italy hit by heavy showers The north, by contrast, was hit by several showers in the morning, again as a consequence of the extreme heat, with heavy rain and hailstorms over the southern plains of Lombardy, particularly in the provinces of Bergamo and Brescia, before moving towards Veneto and Trentino. By evening, thunderstorms are expected to hit Piedmont, the Aosta Valley and northern Lombardy, with rainfall intensifying from early afternoon. WWF sounds the alarm: the hottest summer ever recorded in Western Europe "The data for this summer are unequivocal. According to Copernicus, June and July together were the hottest ever recorded in western Europe, a full 2.79°C above the 1991-2020 average and almost 0.9 degrees centigrade above the previous record set in 2022. This has affected ecosystems and the lives of millions of people. The melting of Alpine glaciers is transforming high-altitude ecosystems and increasing the vulnerability of mountain areas," WWF said in a statement. In Italy, the organisation recalled, "more than 90,000 hectares of forest have been burned, an increase of 92% compared with the average for this period over the last twenty years (49,000 hectares), with almost a third of the fires in protected areas. Record temperatures, drought, water scarcity and wildfires are also putting wildlife under stress: this is why WWF has asked the regions to suspend hunting in September". "Seas and oceans have also recorded record temperatures. According to data provided by the Copernicus Marine Service (CMEMS), the European Union's Earth observation programme, for the Mediterranean June 2026 was the hottest June ever recorded. Local anomalies reached extreme peaks of up to 8°C above normal. In July, water in some areas exceeded 30°C". (To be continued)