Italy is currently baking in the
first big heat wave of the summer with an African anticyclone
boosting temperatures up as far as a sweltering 40 degrees C.
That is 10 degree above seasonal averages, said weatherman
Antonio Sanò, fuonder of the website www.iLMeteo.it, who
predicted that the wave of Saharan heat will "soon take over the
whole country".
On Monday and Tuesday, Sanò said, the mercury will rise to
32-34°C in the centre-north, and above that in Puglia, Sicily
and Sardinia.
"Then, from Wednesday to Friday, there will be a further
intensification of the heat," said Sanò.
Thermometers will register 39-40°C in Rome, Naples, Terni,
Macerata, Florence, Forlì and Ferrara, he said while they will
reach 42-44°C in inland parts of Sardinia and Sicily.
Next weekend the anticyclone will "lose force", Sanò said, "with
the first very strong rainstorms in the north and a general
lowering of temperatures across all regions".
Beaches were crowded at the weekend as Italians sought refuge
from the heat, and are expected to be even more packed as the
mercury rises further this week and with the school holidays
having started.
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