Bad weather forecast Sunday to ease heatwave

(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 17 - Bad weather coming from Northern Europe forecast on Sunday is expected to ease a heatwave that has gripped Italy for the past 35 days, meteorologist Mattia Gussoni of the weather forecast site www.iLMeteo.it said on Saturday.
    "Temperatures will drop over the next 12-36 hours by at least 10 degrees across Italy as an Atlantic low-pressure area is arriving with fresh air from Scotland", he noted.
    Temperatures will remain high on Saturday, with peaks of 39 degrees in in Siracusa, and 38 in Catania, Sicily, 37 in Taranto and Lecce, in Puglia, and 36 in Bologna and Ferrara, in Emilia Romagna.
    The heat will instead start easing on Saturday in Milan, Florence and Rome, where about 32-33 degrees have been forecast.
    However, the drastic drop in temperatures, up to 10 degrees in the Centre-North, has been forecast on Sunday, with 22 degrees expected in Milan and 24-25 in Bologna and Florence, among other cities.
    The situation in the South will be different as temperatures will retain peaks of 35-36 degrees on Sunday but are expected to drop on Monday.
    The arrival of a cold air mass will clash with the hot air mass over Italy with the risk of heavy storms forecast in particular over Sardinia and the North-West and the possible involvement of Tyrrhenian regions, in particular Tuscany.
    Bad weather is expected in the morning over the North-West, from which it will proceed towards the North-East and then central regions to reach Campania, in the South, in the second part of the day.
    Heavy thunderstorms and hailstorms with downburst winds, tornadoes and possible flash floods " are feared over these areas", observed Gussoni.
    The spate of bad weather will continue on Monday in Emilia Romagna, Marche and over the majority of areas along the Adriatic coast of Italy. (ANSA).