Image: ANDREAS SOLARO (AFP)
Heavy thunderstorms were also reported from the regional capital of Bologna. According to the ANSA news agency, 14 people were injured in the province of Ravenna, including from falling trees. It stayed hot in southern and central Italy.
According to newspaper reports, 46.4 degrees were measured in Syracuse in south-eastern Sicily on Saturday. For the new week, the meteorologists expect a heat wave with record temperatures of 47 to 48 degrees between Sardinia and Sicily. The weather service Ilmeteo.it spoke of a “Caronte bis” (Caronte with encore), alluding to the high “Caronte” from last week. Caronte is the Italian name for Charon, the ferryman from the underworld of Greek and Roman mythology. Temperatures across the country are expected to drop slightly between Wednesday and Thursday.
Many bathers on the Adriatic experienced a nasty surprise on Saturday. Videos showed summer visitors fleeing the beach in Lido di Classe near Ravenna. A little further south, a stretch of beach north of Ancona was caught by a storm surge that was as sudden as it was violent. While the beach was still full of people, the sky darkened within minutes, the newspaper “La Repubblica” reported. Strong gusts of wind would have torn away dozens of parasols. The waves had penetrated to the sixth row of beaches, and loungers were floating in the water. From various places in northern Italy, the newspapers showed photos of tennis ball-sized hailstones.
Pope Francis expressed concern about extreme weather events in Italy and many other countries during Sunday’s Angelus prayer. He called on politicians and institutions to act quickly to combat climate change.
Ahead of a new heat wave, Bulgaria has also been hit by storms. Heavy winds, rainstorms and hailstorms raged in the north-west of the Balkan country on Sunday night, as reported by the Bulgarian media. Roofs were damaged in several places. Fallen trees blocked roads or damaged parked cars. Firefighters and volunteers cleared the country road to the Wraschka Tschuka (Vrška Čuka) border crossing to Serbia.
After several hot days with maximum temperatures around 40 degrees, the storms brought some cooling in northern Bulgaria. But for the southern regions, the alert level was yellow on Sunday. Temperatures of up to 38 degrees were expected in the border areas with Greece. According to Bulgarian meteorologists, there will be a new heat wave in the coming days. Then the temperatures in the south-eastern European country should also rise above 40 degrees.
Source: Nachrichten
