Italy braces for more intense heat as temperatures set to hit highs of up to 39C

Rome: More high temperatures come after Italy was battered by heavy rain and intense thunderstorms.

Italy is bracing for another stint of hot weather this week after being battered by heavy rain over the last few days.

Temperatures are due to start rising from Thursday with forecasters saying they will peak over the weekend.

Parts of the centre and south are forecast to reach 34-36C. Sicily and Sardinia are set to see up to 39C. And in the north of the country, daytime temperatures will range between 30 and 32C.

Conditions are also likely to be uncomfortable as above-average sea surface temperatures in the Mediterranean cause high humidity alongside unusually warm temperatures.

It comes after intense thunderstorms saw Italy’s Civil Protection Department issue yellow weather warnings for 10 regions on Tuesday. Heavy rain pummelled the north of the country and then moved down the peninsula to hit central and southern regions.

The Ministry of Health has placed six major cities – Rome, Florence, Trieste, Bari, Latina and Frosinone – under the highest level red heat warning for Thursday 29 August.

This means conditions that pose a potential health risk to the general population and the vulnerable, such as the elderly or children, are expected.

Another five cities, Verona, Rieti, Perugia, Brescia and Bologna, are under a medium-high amber warning on Thursday.

People should drink at least one and a half litres of water a day, avoid physical activity outdoors and stay inside during the hottest hours of the day (11am to 6pm) wherever possible, according to Ministry of Health advice.

This summer in Italy has been marked by record heatwaves, wildfires and intense thunderstorms.

A low-pressure weather system, known as an anticyclone, has been pulling plumes of warm air from northern Africa and Spain, causing high temperatures across the region since July.

Though these plumes are not unusual during the summer, meteorologists say there is a tendency for them to be even hotter due to climate change.

Europe is also the fastest-warming continent in the world with its temperatures rising at roughly twice the global average, according to a recent report by the World Meteorological Organization and EU climate monitor Copernicus. Scientists say human-caused climate change has also made heatwaves more frequent and more intense across Europe in recent years.

Forecasts predict that this spell of heat is due to ease off by Tuesday 3 September. It may not yet be the end of the unusually high temperatures in Italy, however.

Though long-term weather predictions can be uncertain, meteorologists say that, in general, trends show these conditions are likely to continue – especially across southern and south-eastern Europe.