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Italy’s heatwave escalates
Italy is placing nearly all of its major cities under the highest alert for heat from Monday, as a fresh heatwave grips the country, with temperatures forecast to reach into the high 30s Celsius on Monday, the health ministry said on Saturday.
“Temperatures were forecast to reach into the high 30s Celsius on Monday”
Out of the nation’s 27 major cities, only two—Reggio Calabria and Messina—were not being placed on highest alert for heat, according to the health ministry.
The highest alert level for heat means the weather is "likely to have harmful effects on the health of healthy and active people, and not only on at-risk groups such as the elderly, very young children, and people with chronic illnesses," the health ministry said.
ANSA said that by Sunday 23 of the 27 major cities monitored for its heat warnings would be on the maximum red alert, with the red warning (Level 3) indicating a heatwave emergency with prolonged heat and a high general risk to health, even for young people in good health.
Red alert lists expand
AL24 News said that on Monday, out of 27 major cities, only two—Reggio di Calabria and Messina—were not classified as red alert, the highest level, and it forecast perceived maximum temperatures could reach up to 39°C in Naples, 38°C in Florence and Palermo, or 37°C in Rome.
It also said that since this Saturday, 19 of the major Italian cities have been classified at alert level 3, listing Bolzano, Campobasso, Civitavecchia, Florence, Frosinone, Latina, Perugia, Rieti, Rome, Turin, Viterbo, Bologna, Brescia, Cagliari, Milan, Naples, Pescara, Venice, and Verona.
On Sunday, AL24 News said Catania, Genoa, Palermo, and Trieste would be added, ahead of Ancona and Bari on Monday.
Le Figaro described the same Health Ministry bulletin as placing nearly all major Italian cities on red alert for Monday, and it said the perceived maximum temperatures could reach up to 39°C in Naples, 38°C in Florence and Palermo, or 37°C in Rome.
Health, infrastructure, and risk
The Sun Malaysia quoted the health ministry’s definition of the highest alert level for heat as warning of "harmful effects on the health of healthy and active people," while ANSA said this year’s heatwaves have been linked to a number of deaths and have also caused big problems for business, especially agriculture.
“This year's heatwaves have been linked to a number of deaths”
ANSA tied the heat to broader impacts, saying scorching summer is bringing forward the grape harvest in Piedmont and that wildfires have flared up again in the Gargano area of Puglia, where a huge blaze near the seaside town of Peschici made it necessary for the Coast Guard to evacuate hundreds of people from beaches via sea last weekend.
In addition to health and wildfires, the sources connected the heat crisis to drought and energy strain, with ANSA saying heatwaves, droughts, supercharged storms and flooding are making extreme weather events more frequent and more intense.
TGLA7 said ER visits are increasing, reporting that "Simeu, ER visits rose by 10-15%" during the heat effects, and it added that Save the Children said that in the first half of 2026 "3.4 million children in Italy were exposed to extreme heat waves."
