Heatwave: 7 red and 9 orange alerts on Wednesday

Italy's third heatwave of the summer

is raging and red and orange alerts are increasing.

A red health risk alert is in effect for Florence and Perugia,

starting today until Wednesday.

Bologna, Brescia, Frosinone, Rome, and Turin will join them on

July 15.

Also on Wednesday, temperatures and weather conditions could

have negative effects on the population's health, particularly

among the most susceptible (orange alert) for Cagliari,

Campobasso, Latina, Milan, Pescara, Rieti, Trieste, Verona, and

Viterbo, according to the latest heatwave bulletin from the

Ministry of Health.

The health ministry's alert system has three levels in addition

to level zero, green, meaning there is no alert.

Level one, yellow, is pre-alert, while level two, orange, means

the temperatures and weather conditions can pose health risks,

especially for vulnerable groups such as the elderly and the

ill.

Level three, red, means the heat poses a risk to the health of

the general population, not just vulnerable groups.

Italy is experiencing extreme heat due to a powerful African

anticyclone driving hot air directly over the Mediterranean.

This high-pressure system, combined with broader human-induced

climate change causing more frequent and intense heatwaves

across Southern Europe, has pushed temperatures well above

seasonal averages.

Italy has suffered at least seven heat-related deaths his

summer.

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