Italy sizzles under intense heat wave

(ANSA) - Rome, July 16 - Italy continues to feel the heat of an African anticyclone that has sent temperatures soaring to nearly 40 degrees across the country and the islands, with experts on Thursday predicting the next couple of days to be the hottest of July.
    Italy's health ministry put the heat risk level to its highest, level 3-red, for 14 cities across the peninsula on Thursday, growing to 22 cities on Saturday.
    Although temperatures topped out at 39 on Wednesday, the level of perceived heat was much higher, as much as 47 degrees in Tuscany, according to a bulletin from the region's Meteorological Laboratory, which said, "We're expecting a boiling weekend".
    Perceived temperatures in Veneto, especially in the plains, felt as high as 42 degrees due to sun exposure and high humidity, although actual temperatures ranged between 36 and 37, seven degrees higher than average.
    In Liguria, a forest fire alert is in force for the entire region due to the elevated temperatures and dry conditions, and the forest service has placed a ban on campfires during the period of high alert.
    The heat is taking its toll on agriculture as well, with cows under stress from the high temperatures drinking nearly double their daily intake of water, and a loss so far of 50 million litres of Italian milk due to the heat wave, 20 million in Lombardy alone.
    Weather experts expect the heat to subside a bit at the beginning of next week, when cooler air from the north will see temperatures drop a few degrees, only to rise again in the days to follow.