Extreme heat persisting in centre and south, storms in north

(ANSA) - ROME, JUN 21 - Extreme heat is persisting in the centre and south of Italy while heavy rainstorms and hailstorm have broken the steamy 'afa' in the north.
    The health ministry has put eight cities on red alert on Thursday due to high temperatures, with the heat wave that has hit Italy set to escalate: Perugia, Frosinone, Latina, Rieti, Rome, Ancona, Campobasso, Palermo and Perugia.
    When an area is put on red alert, it means the heat is so intense that it poses a risk to healthy, active people and not just vulnerable groups such as the elderly, the sick and small children.
    The Italian Society of Environmental Medicine (SIMA), meanwhile, has sounded the alarm about the situation in Sicily, where temperatures could reach 40°C in the provinces of Agrigento and Siracusa and 39° in Catania and Ragusa this week.
    The city of Naples had adopted a series of measures to help homeless people cope with the heat wave. These include granting access to public dormitories in the afternoon so they can get off the street in the hottest hours of the day.
    Weatherman Antonio Sanò said Friday that temperatures will fall slightly next week, to 32-34°C in the south, 29-30°C in the centre and around 23-25°C in the north, which will see more rain and hail. (ANSA).