The number of major Italian cities on red alert due to the country's third heatwave of the summer climbed from 20 to 23 on Wednesday.
They are Ancona, Bari, Bologna, Brescia, Cagliari, Campobasso, Catania, Civitavecchia, Florence, Frosinone, Latina, Messina, Naples, Palermo, Perugia, Pescara, Rieti, Rome, Trieste, Turin, Venice, Verona and Viterbo.
Only four of the nation's 27 biggest cities are not red alert, which means the heat is so intense the health ministry considers it a threat to the whole population, not just vulnerable groups such as the sick, the elderly and small children They are Milan and Reggio Calabria, which are notch down on orange alert, and Bolzano and Genoa on yellow.
The health ministry on Wednesday is activating a helpline, number 1500, for people to seek assistance and advice about coping with the heat. The temperature hit peaks of 47° Celsius in Sicily on Tuesday and 46° in Sardinia.
The heatwave is set to ease slightly in the coming days, with the number of cities on red alert dropping to 18 on Thursday and Friday, with Bologna, Brescia, Trieste, Turin, Venice and Verona coming off the list and Reggio Calabria entering.
Pensions and social-security agency INPS has said companies will be able to let workers go home and use the CIG furlough fund for the lost hours when the temperature in the workplace goes over 35°. The Stellantis group sent home workers at its Pomigliano d'Arco plant near Naples on Tuesday afternoon because it was too hot to work.
The health ministry has released guidelines about how to cope with the heatwave.
"You can protect yourself against the heat in a major way by drinking lots of water, opting for a diet based on vegetables and fresh fruit and avoiding excessive consumption of fatty foods and alcohol," Health Minister Orazio Schillaci said.
"Special attention should be paid to the most fragile, the elderly and children".
Rome's Civil Protection Department has set up 28 'heat help points' dotted around the city in a bid to prevent residents and tourists having bad turns due to the heat.
The Times has called Rome "The Infernal City" because of the heat it is suffering.
The heatwave is not the only extreme weather problem Italy is having.
A violent downpour on Tuesday devastated a forest in the Cadore area of Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
The regions of Veneto, Friuli, Lombardt and Trentino are on yellow alert on Wednesday due to possible violent storms.
Scientists say the climate crisis caused by human greenhouse gas emissions is making extreme weather events such as heat waves, drought, supercharged storms and flooding more frequent and more intense.
A study coordinated by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health and published in the Nature Medicine journal last week estimated that over 18,000 people died in Italy due to the intense heat the nation endured last summer.
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