Italy heat wave break brings thunderstorms, hail and wind; new heatwave expected over the weekend
After weeks of extreme heat, thunderstorms, hail and strong winds are crossing Italy, providing a temporary drop in temperatures before a new African anticyclone pushes heat back up over the weekend.
After two weeks of relentless high temperatures, a cold front from Northern Europe is sweeping across Italy, triggering violent thunderstorms, hail and gusty winds that bring a sharp but brief break from the heat. The unstable weather will affect most of the country through Thursday before conditions gradually improve.
Storm progression
On Wednesday 1 July, the front hit the North hard. In Milan, wind gusts up to 90 km/h prompted authorities to close parks, swimming pools and cemeteries. Flooding was reported between Merano, Bressanone and Bolzano in Trentino. The Civil Protection Department placed parts of Veneto under a red alert, with orange alerts in Emilia-Romagna and Veneto, and yellow alerts across fifteen other regions.
By Thursday 2 July the disturbance slides south.
On Thursday the unstable front will rapidly slide southward: the instability will spread, gradually affecting the regions of central and southern Italy, finally bringing some relief, but accompanied by a sharp and marked deterioration in weather conditions.
Heavy downpours, lightning, hail and strong winds are forecast for Lazio, Umbria, Marche, Abruzzo, and later Campania, Molise, Basilicata and Puglia. Rome itself is under a yellow alert for hydrogeological risk. Meteorologist Flavio Galbiati warns that the day will be very unstable, with possible critical phenomena and thunderstorms reaching the capital late morning.
- Storm front hits Northern Italy; Milan closes parks and pools; flooding in Trentino.
- Unstable weather moves to Central-Southern Italy; red, orange and yellow alerts; temperatures drop below 30°C.
- Storms ease in most areas; Health Ministry downgrades 18 cities to green heat alert.
- African anticyclone returns; temperatures rise to around 32°C with sunny skies across the weekend.
Health bulletin shift
While the weather turns stormy, the heat wave alert system run by the Ministry of Health is easing. On Thursday only Catania and Reggio Calabria remain at the highest red level, while Messina is orange and 24 other monitored cities are at yellow pre-alert status. By Friday 3 July, the picture brightens: 18 of the 27 monitored cities drop to green, and no city remains at red or orange.
Outlook: weekend anticyclone
From Saturday 4 July the African anticyclone returns. The high-pressure system will push temperatures upward again, but Galbiati notes that the incoming air mass is not as intensely hot as the previous one. Daytime highs are forecast to reach around 32°C, far below the recent peaks, with stable and sunny conditions expected across most of Italy.
