Italy: Milan records its hottest day in more than 250 years
Italy heatwave
Italy’s northern city of Milan registered the highest average daily temperature for the past 260 years, on Wednesday, amid a heatwave that began in mid-August and peaked earlier this week, said the regional environmental protection agency (ARPA), on Friday (August 25).
The Milano Brera weather station recorded an average of 33 degrees Celsius in Milan, on Wednesday (August 23), which is the highest since they began the record keeping back in 1763.
The city’s previous record was 32.8 degrees Celsius, recorded on August 11, 2003.
What did the ARPA say?
The Italian city also recorded the highest minimum temperature on Thursday (August 24) at 28.9 degrees Celsius, said the ARPA. Notably, the Italian capital Rome registered a record peak of 41.8 degrees Celsius, last month.
This comes as much of southern Europe, including Italy, is witnessing soaring temperatures that are fuelling wildfires, prompting governments to issue health warnings and disrupting the holiday season for many tourists.
According to the ARPA, August 23 and 24 were the hottest days of the summer across the whole of the Lombardy region which surrounds Milan.
The agency also noted that “intense and abnormal” temperatures also hit the Italian Alps.
Thunderstorms ahead
The region might experience some respite since the heatwave is about to end, said the ARPA. It also noted that heavy thunderstorms in the upcoming days will cause the temperatures to plunge to 10-15 degrees Celsius.
According to the agency, the first thunderstorms could arrive by the afternoon of August 26 in the Italian Alps and western high plains and warned that it could be “very intense” due to medium-large hail and strong gusts of wind.
What is driving these high temperatures?
Last month, scientists confirmed what many speculated that this weather phenomenon would be “virtually impossible” without human-induced climate change. From record-breaking temperatures in the United States to life-threatening wildfires burning parts of Europe, this summer wreaked havoc across parts of the world.
“European and North American temperatures would have been virtually impossible without the effects of climate change,” said Izidine Pinto of the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, one of the authors of the study.
(With inputs from agencies)
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