Bad weather whips centre-north but heat, afa to return Thurs

(ANSA) - ROME, JUN 25 - Bad weather is continuing to last the centre and north of Italy but heat and steamy 'afa' breathlessly sticky and warm conditions will return to the whole of Italy on Thursday, weathermen said Tuesday.
    Heavy rain from Ireland is continuing to whip the north and centre with temperatures struggling to get above 20°C, 6-7 degrees below seasonal averages, said Lorenzo Tedici, a meteorologist at the website www.iLMeteo.it.
    Rainstorms will persist in all the centre-north, amid sunny patches, until Thursday, he said, with the most affected areas being Emilia Romagna, Liguria, southern Piedmont, Tuscany, Umbria and Marche.
    On Tuesday streets and underpasses were flooded in Pistoia in northern Tuscany while fire teams were going out in dinghies around Parma to rescue stranded motorists.
    There was a red alert for river levels around Modena and Piacenza while mountain refuges in Piedmont were cut off by heavy snow. (ANSA).