Italian Red Cross launches cooling centres as heat wave grips the country, with temperatures still near 39°C
The Italian Red Cross is expanding its Oasi project to five new cities, providing air-conditioned shelters for vulnerable people during extreme heat, while a new heat wave is forecast for early August.
Heat wave and weather forecast
Italy remains in the grip of a prolonged heat wave, with maximum temperatures on 24 July still reaching 38-39°C on Sicily and Sardinia and 34-35°C in Rome. The slow thermal decline is underway, and a yellow weather alert has been issued for some areas. Meteorologist Lorenzo Tedici of iLMeteo.it expects isolated afternoon showers over Triveneto and the Adriatic coast.
Isolated afternoon showers will develop over Triveneto and along the Adriatic coast, close to the Apennines.
On Friday 24 July, the North will be sunny, the Centre sunny except the Middle Adriatic, while the South will see scattered, locally intense storms. Saturday 25 July will be a mostly pleasant transitional day, though the far South will stay hot and clouds will increase over the North-West, with a deterioration on the Alps from the afternoon. The anticyclone that has been driving the heat will weaken on Sunday 26 July, allowing a disturbance to bring rain to the North and much of the Centre; meanwhile, Sicily will again hit 38-40°C.
- Scattered storms in the South; sunny elsewhere, temperatures 38-39°C on islands, 34-35°C in Rome.
- Pleasant transition day, hot in far South, clouds increase in North-West, deterioration on Alps.
- Rain in the North and much of the Centre; Sicily reaches 38-40°C.
- Torrid heat returns, temperatures rising across Italy.
- New heat wave expected, according to meteorologist Lorenzo Tedici.
Tedici cautioned that the break will be brief. From Monday, temperatures will begin to rise again, with Wednesday 29 July marking the return of torrid heat.
Starting next Wednesday, torrid heat will return. Projections indicate that from the first weekend of August, a new heat wave is coming.
Pilot in Opera and emergency response
The Italian Red Cross (Croce Rossa Italiana) tested the Oasi cooling centre concept last year in Opera, a municipality in the Milan metropolitan area. The 2025 pilot welcomed more than 500 beneficiaries, offering air-conditioned spaces, comfort goods, and health information. Its real-world value was proven during a sudden blackout at the end of June this year, when the centre opened 24 hours a day, providing a safe refuge for dozens of citizens who had lost electricity and air conditioning during the peak of the heat wave. The positive outcome encouraged the Red Cross to scale up the project.
National rollout of cooling centres
Now the project is being expanded to five new locations across Italy, each chosen for its vulnerability to extreme heat: Ardea, a coastal town near Rome; Rosignano Solvay along the Tuscan coast; Borgosesia in the Alpine foothills of Piedmont; Caltanissetta in the centre of Sicily; and Naples, the densely populated Campanian capital. These centres will serve as climate shelters, equipped with air conditioning and staffed to provide reception, comfort supplies, and socio-health services during extreme heat days. Each centre will offer a safe, air-conditioned space where people can cool down, receive water and other comfort items, and get information on how to cope with the heat. With the forecast of a new heat wave at the beginning of August, the centres are expected to be in high demand, especially for the elderly, children, and those with chronic illnesses. The Red Cross describes the initiative as a way of staying close to communities and responding to emerging health needs.
