Bad weather hits Italy - 'storms in South till Tuesday'

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 19 - A wave of bad weather hit Italy on Saturday with storms expected to pummel the South until Tuesday, according to meteorologist Mattia Gussoni of www.iLMeteo. it.
    Overall, heavy rainfall led the Elsa river in the area of Florence, Tuscany, and the Salso river in Sicily's Licata to break their banks, causing local floods with bad weather alerts reported across the country, from Emilia Romagna, where schools were closed in three provinces just a month after the region was hit by its third flood, and the northeastern Veneto region.
    "We are experiencing a difficult Saturday" with extreme weather "red alerts, storms in the South and in the North-East" and in areas across "all regions" of the country, said Gussoni.
    In particular, heavy rainfall hit Emilia Romagna and was forecast in Rome with only Sardinia and the extreme North-West "less affected by intense rain", he noted.
    The bout of bad weather was expected to also bring heavy rain in eastern Sardinia, all of Sicily, parts of Calabria, Basilicata and Puglia on Sunday with the Ionian area of Calabria the epicentre of this phase of extreme weather, commented Gussoni.
    Storms have also been forecast for the beginning of next week in the South, in particular in Calabria and Sicily, until Tuesday.
    (ANSA).