After enduring two major heatwaves, Italy was faced on Sunday with what the iLMeteo.it weather website has described as a "heat storm", with exceptionally high temperatures and humidity rates, especially in the central and southern regions.
On Sunday the number of major Italian cities that the health ministry has put on red alert, meaning that the heat is so intense it poses a threat to the whole population, not just groups such as the elderly, the clinically vulnerable and very young children, climbed from 15 to 16.
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They are Bologna, Campobasso, Florence, Frosinone, Latina, Perugia, Pescara, Rieti, Rome, Viterbo. Bari, Cagliari, Catania, Civitavecchia, Messina and Palermo, Sunday's new entry.
Temperatures are forecast to climb as high as 47° Celsius in areas of southern Sardinia, 45 or 46° in Sicily and 45° in the province of Foggia, in Puglia.
In Rome, which The Times has called "The Infernal City" because of the heat it is suffering, temperatures are expected to reach 37° on Sunday and climb to 42 or 43° on Tuesday.
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iLMeteo.it Founder Antonio Sanò said temperatures of over 30° may last until up to midnight in some cases.
Sleeping is a problem, with temperatures not going below 20° during the night.