The Ministry of Health issued red alerts for several cities in the country’s centre, including the capital Rome, Bologna, Florence and Pescara, where temperatures are forecast to range between 36 and 37C from Sunday (with a sense of 39C). °C), which will increase until it peaks at the beginning of the week.
Temperatures in Rome can soar to 40°C on Monday and reach 42-43°C on Tuesday, beating the August 2007 record of 40.5°C.
The island of Sardinia is also on track to set a new high of over 48.8°C, reached on August 11, 2021, which is the highest temperature recorded in Europe.
Medical devices are already being used across the country to care for the most vulnerable people suffering from dehydration and to intervene in nursing homes.
The heat caused the deaths of 60,000 people in Europe in 2022, with 18,000 killing in Italy, the hardest-hit country, according to a study published Monday in Nature Medicine.
© 2023 AFP