Most parts of Italy can expect temperatures of up to 37-39°C in the shade by Friday as another African anticyclone sweeps the country, according to weather forecasts on Wednesday.

The heat is set to be a particularly intense 40-41°C in Sicily, Sardinia, and Puglia, as well as some inland central areas including the province of Perugia.

The anticyclone, named ‘Scipio’, is already bringing a wave of sticky heat to much of the south and centre of Italy on Wednesday, said Lorenzo Tedici, meteorologist at IlMeteo.it.

Northern regions will be feeling the heat by Republic Day, he said, with “temperatures over 7-10°C above the seasonal average, averages which have now been distorted for almost a month.”

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Rome is likely to see record June temperatures by this weekend, he said.

The humid heat, known in Italian as ‘afa’, is expected to last throughout the weekend before things cool down again by Monday, according to IlMeteo.

Meteorologists stress that the first heatwaves of the year are especially risky – especially when they arrive early, as people are not yet acclimatized.

The Department for Civil Protection placed the inland cities of Perugia and Campobasso on ‘amber’ alert – the second-highest warning level – for extreme heat on June 2nd, with other cities including Rome, Naples and Palermo on a lower-level ‘yellow’ alert.

Millions of Italian residents are expected to travel within the country on June 2nd, Italy’s Republic Day or the Festa della Repubblica, with many taking Friday off work to create a ponte, or ‘bridge’ over the weekend.

Italy saw its first wave of unusually hot weather this year in mid-May, with an anticyclone sweeping in from northern Africa bringing temperatures up to around 30C – well above seasonal average – in many parts of the peninsula.