Italy's heatwave intensifies

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 19 - The heatwave gripping Italy intensified on Friday with 17 major cities on red alert.
    The cities on red alert, meaning the heat is so intense it represents a threat for healthy people, are Ancona, Bari, Brescia, Bologna, Bolzano, Campobasso, Florence, Frosinone, Latina, Palermo, Perugia, Pescara, Rieti, Rome, Trieste, Verona and Viterbo.
    Temperatures are forecast to reach 40 decrees C in parts of southern Italy at the weekend, with high humidity levels reported across the country.
    On Thursday, a one-year-old girl died after being left in the car in the town of Marcon near Venice for several hours in scorching heat by her father, who forgot she was there.
    Several similar cases have been reported in Italy in the past.
    Meanwhile Save the Children warned that over 880,000 minors in Italy were exposed to intense heat because they live in cities classified as being on red alert by the health ministry.
    The organization noted that some 18% of the minors, or about 160,000, are under 4 and thus more vulnerable to health problems caused by high temperatures.
    Save the Children then recalled that the probability of extreme events linked to climate change in Italy has "increased by 9% in 20 years" and young children are more at risk of suffering the consequences.
    The heatwave is even more serious for children living in low-income families or in small and unhealthy, overcrowded environments, the charity noted.
    Moreover in 2023 Italian statistics agency Istat estimated that 9% of Italian families lived in homes with irregular water supply - about 2.3 million families mainly in the South. (ANSA).