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Highest heat warning level in Italy: Prime Minister Draghi calls out an emergency plan

2022-06-30T18:09:54.505Z


Highest heat warning level in Italy: Prime Minister Draghi calls out an emergency plan Created: 06/30/2022, 19:54 A woman cools off in the heat of Rome. © Andrew Medichini/dpa The drought has been going on in Italy for weeks, and now there is a nationwide heat wave. Prime Minister Mario Draghi therefore announced an emergency plan. In addition to the ongoing drought, a nationwide heat wave is


Highest heat warning level in Italy: Prime Minister Draghi calls out an emergency plan

Created: 06/30/2022, 19:54

A woman cools off in the heat of Rome.

© Andrew Medichini/dpa

The drought has been going on in Italy for weeks, and now there is a nationwide heat wave.

Prime Minister Mario Draghi therefore announced an emergency plan.

In addition to the ongoing drought, a nationwide heat wave is threatening in Italy over the weekend.

The Ministry of Health issued the highest heat warning level for 22 Italian cities in its forecast on Thursday.

These include Rome, Palermo, Naples, Florence and Bologna.

The experts warn of the negative effects on health from the heat.

They advise, for example, not to go out in the sun between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. and to avoid places with heavy traffic.

In the official weather forecast, the meteorologists expect temperatures of just under 40 degrees in Rome, Naples and Sicily.

Heat and drought in Italy: Rivers like the Po are drying up

Meanwhile, the drought situation on Italy's longest river, the Po, continues to worsen.

According to the situation report on Wednesday, the recent rains were hardly able to remedy the situation.

The river is very dry in some places.

Because of the low water level, salt water penetrated the riverbed at the mouth of the Adriatic Sea up to 30 kilometers inland.

The Po River Observatory therefore recommends taking even less water from the stream and instead tapping into large lakes such as Lake Maggiore, Lake Como and Lake Garda.

Video: Heat and drought - Italy is threatened by drought catastrophe

Prime Minister Mario Draghi announced measures by Rome to deal with the drought on Thursday evening.

From Monday the government will take care of emergency plans in the affected parts of the country.

The regions, especially in the north, have been demanding this for weeks.

Draghi also pointed out structural problems: the country's water reservoirs and pipes are in such a dilapidated condition that 30 percent of the water is lost in them.

In Europe, there are unusually early this year, an unusually large number of heat waves.

In Spain and France it was already over 40 degrees in May, in June the thermometer even climbed to just under 50 degrees in some regions.

Such heat is not normal this early in the year, numerous experts have already pointed out.

They see the cause in climate change.

Meteorologists fear that such heat waves could become even more frequent.

(dpa/fmü)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-06-30

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