Italy is burning in the fourth heatwave of the summer. The highest-level “red alert” was issued in 25 of the country’s cities on Monday — the largest number of cities placed under a heatwave warning together this summer.
Italy’s health ministry raised the number of alerts from 23 cities on Sunday to 25 on Monday, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported.
Only Reggio Calabria and Messina are outside the red alert, though a “yellow alert” remains in force in those two cities too.
The country’s Po Valley and central regions are worst hit. Temperatures could also cross 40 degrees Celsius in inland areas and on the island of Sardinia. In parts of central and northern Italy, night-time temperatures will stay above 25 degrees Celsius — what meteorologists call a “super-tropical night.” On Sunday, the temperature reached 41 degrees Celsius in the central Italian province of Terni.
Experts say the influence of the African anticyclone and the unusual warmth of the Mediterranean Sea are the main causes of the intense heat. Sea-surface temperatures across large parts of the Mediterranean are now 30 degrees Celsius or higher.
Lorenzo Tedici, a meteorologist at the weather website iLMeteo.it, said the excess heat would create instability in the atmosphere, which could bring strong afternoon thunderstorms across the Alps and Apennines.
Italy’s Civil Protection Department has issued a “yellow alert” over the risk of heavy rain in the Apennine region from Umbria to Calabria and in inland areas of Sicily.
Lorenzo Tedici added: “To get real relief from the most intense heatwave of the summer of 2026, we will have to wait at least until mid-August.”
Along with the heat, the risk of wildfires has risen. Authorities have issued an “orange alert” in the Sicily and Emilia-Romagna regions.
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