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Weather: Central and southern Italy on storm alert as temperatures drop

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Weather: Central and southern Italy on storm alert as temperatures drop
Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP

Many parts of Italy were on alert for severe storms on Thursday, with temperatures set to fall and more bad weather predicted across the country over the weekend.

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Temperatures are expected to fall by up to eight degrees in many parts of central and southern Italy as September begins with the weather taking a turn for the worse.

Violent thunderstorms will spread south from Emilia-Romagna on Thursday, the national civil protection department said.

Storms are forecast to hit early on Thursday in the regions of Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Marche, Abruzzo, Molise and Campania, and then spread to Puglia, Calabria, Basilicata, and northeastern Sicily.

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There will be “intense downpours, frequent electrical activity, hailstorms and strong gusts of wind”, the department said.

"There will be very intense localised weather phenomena, especially along coastal areas," it predicted.

Thunderstorms and colder temperatures are then expected in the centre-north of Italy over the weekend, according to forecasts from weather website Il Meteo.

Unstable weather is expected across the country for the next few days, as cold air masses move in from the Atlantic while the seas remain warm, meteorologists said.

Emergency services are bracing for further flooding and storm damage less than two weeks after a wave of extreme weather swept across northern parts of the country.

Experts say climate change is boosting the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, floods, droughts and wildfires.

READ ALSO: Europe facing record year for wildfire destruction: EU

Italian environmental group Legambiente said in mid-August the number of such extreme weather events has surged in Italy, with 132 in the last six months alone – the highest average figure in the last decade.

“Italy is ever more subject to extreme climate events” because of global heating caused by human activity, the group said.

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