Unprecedented heat wave in Italy: ground at 48 degrees

Italy has been experiencing unprecedented heat for weeks: a ground temperature of 48 degrees was measured in downtown Naples last week. The cities in particular became extremely hot. After the fourth heat wave of the year, thunderstorms with rain are now sweeping across the country and promise cooling.

But there is no sign of this yet, says ARD correspondent Tilman Kleinjung. The heat continues and the humidity in large cities like Rome is extremely high. “It’s like living in a sauna,” says Kleinjung. Even at night there is no cooling down in the heated cities.

But the ongoing heat and dryness can also be felt in the countryside. Authorities are measuring significantly lower water levels than usual on Italy's longest river, the Po. According to media reports, Lake Maggiore in northern Italy, Italy's second largest lake after Lake Garda, is approaching a historic low. In the northern part of the Adriatic, temperatures of more than 30 degrees were measured in the Mediterranean.

Winemakers respond by harvesting earlier

Italy's winemakers are also trying to save what can be saved. In the Franciacorta wine region in northern Italy, winemakers started harvesting around ten days earlier than usual, as weeks of summer temperatures between 37 and 38 degrees Celsius had brought the grapes to ripeness earlier than ever before. Climate change is shortening the harvesting window and forcing winemakers to make quick decisions, as just a few days can make the difference between a good and a bad vintage.

“These are delicate, hectic moments and everything has to go perfectly. We had neither expected such an early harvest nor such accelerated ripening,” says Arturo Ziliani from the Berlucchi winery.

In order to get the grapes to the presses in time before they overheated, the winery began harvesting at 4 a.m. - under bright floodlights.

Heat more extreme than usual

Even if the heat this summer is more extreme than before: Italy has an advantage over countries like Germany because they are familiar with extreme heat, says ARD correspondent Kleinjung on tagesschau24 - even if not with this intensity and this length.

Due to the ongoing heat wave, the highest warning level for heat alarm was in effect in 27 major Italian cities under observation by the Ministry of Health at the beginning of the month. A red alert is issued by the government in Rome when there is extreme heat combined with high humidity. This means acute health risks not only for older people and other risk groups, but also for healthy and physically active people.

So far there are only estimates of heat deaths, not exact numbers. Researchers assume an excess mortality of 8,000 deaths. However, according to the authorities, there was no sign of excess mortality in the emergency rooms. “You can see that Italians are used to the heat,” says Kleinjung. The provision of air conditioning is also much more common than in Germany, for example.

Cities are also, at least partially, prepared for hot days - in Rome, for example, there are water stations that provide cold water. But there is still a lot to do: environmental associations demand that cities need to become greener in order to store less heat. More planting is needed, especially in cities like Rome, Naples, Bologna and Milan.