How long will Italy’s unusually warm autumn weather last?
Climate experts say the persistently warm weather this October could break heat records - and more extreme weather is likely to follow.
There’s talk of ‘un caldo innaturale’ (an unnatural heat) across Italy this week, as the unseasonably warm weather continues - meaning residents can postpone switching the heating on for a little longer this year, but also bringing clouds of smog, hordes of mosquitoes, and heightened concerns about the climate.
Summery weather in October is far from unusual in Italy. In fact, the phenomenon has a specific name in Italian: ‘Ottobrata’. But as higher temperatures persist, newspapers say Italy is now experiencing an ‘Ottobrata-bis’, a second warm spell which is forecast to last all month.
The phenomenon is caused by a recurring patch of high pressure over the Atlantic, which creates hot, dry conditions in the central Mediterranean. That often means several weeks of clear skies in Italy at this time of year - but this time temperatures are also unusually high.
'Temperatures this October are 4-6°C above average, depending on the region,” said Bernardo Gozzini, director of the LaMMA-Cnr scientific research centre, in an interview with Italy’s Corriere newspaper on Thursday.
For some parts of the country the entire month has been mild and relatively dry, with especially warm weather in the south prompting some people to return to the beaches.
The so-called “ottobrata romana” - a typical Roma October day of clear, uninterrupted sunshine and balmy warmth - is a sight to behold pic.twitter.com/nIqsfUpUEz
— Andrea Carlo (@andcarlom) October 16, 2022
Antonio Sanò, director of weather website Ilmeteo, said Italy’s major islands of Sicily and Sardinia could see temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius this week.
“But the truly exceptional climate will certainly be spoken of also in the central-northern regions,” he added, predicting “peaks of 25-26 degrees in cities such as Bologna, Ferrara, Florence, and in [the southern cities of] Rome, Bari and Naples.”
EXPLAINED: How melting glaciers are shifting the Italy-Switzerland border
Ilmeteo forecast rain in the north of the country on Friday or Saturday before temperatures soar again, predicting a “truly extraordinary Sunday”.
“Temperatures will rise everywhere, reaching peaks from the height of summer, especially in the centre-south and in particular in the inland areas of Sardinia.”
Weather website Meteogiornale said the “crazy weather” won’t end anytime soon, and that there’s “ever chance” Italy could set a new heat record for October.
“Temperatures are set to remain above the average by several degrees until the end of the month,” read one forecast on Wednesday, predicting that “the hottest heat is yet to come”.
'Temperatures this October are 4-6°C above average, depending on the region,” said Bernardo Gozzini, director of the LaMMA-Cnr scientific research centre, in an interview with Italy’s Corriere newspaper on Thursday.
Gozzini said this weather fits “the general warming trend: 2022 is the hottest year recorded in the country since 1800, the top twenty places in that ranking are all from 2000 onwards.”
He noted that heating wouldn’t need to be switched on this month even in places like Milan or Bologna, which would normally be getting cold by the end of October, “with consequent energy savings, which in times of crisis is welcome”.
But experts agree that the increasing frequency of such unseasonably warm weather is a cause for concern, with climate scientists warning that unstable weather now could precede disastrous flooding or other extreme weather events.
READ ALSO: Climate crisis: Italy records ‘five times’ more extreme weather events in ten years
“These anomalies occur with greater frequency and intensity and increase the meteorological variability,” physicist Paola Mercogliano of the Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate Change told Corriere.
“In addition to increased smog and stagnant pollution over the cities, this extreme heat increases evaporation and therefore the availability of water in the atmosphere. With the arrival of the first, normal, autumnal disturbance, new phenomena of extreme precipitation could occur,” she warned.
In Italy the number of extreme weather events including droughts, storms floods, hailstorms, strong winds and tornadoes has already been 42 percent higher in 2022 so far than last year.
Mercogliano said warm autumn weather won’t necessarily become the “new normal”.
“It is still possible to reverse the trend, but mitigation and adaptation policies are needed immediately to avoid further economic and health damage”.
Europe overall is likely to experience a warmer winter than average, the continent's long-range weather forecaster said last week, though a "cold blast" is predicted to sweep the continent in December.
Comments
See Also
There’s talk of ‘un caldo innaturale’ (an unnatural heat) across Italy this week, as the unseasonably warm weather continues - meaning residents can postpone switching the heating on for a little longer this year, but also bringing clouds of smog, hordes of mosquitoes, and heightened concerns about the climate.
Summery weather in October is far from unusual in Italy. In fact, the phenomenon has a specific name in Italian: ‘Ottobrata’. But as higher temperatures persist, newspapers say Italy is now experiencing an ‘Ottobrata-bis’, a second warm spell which is forecast to last all month.
The phenomenon is caused by a recurring patch of high pressure over the Atlantic, which creates hot, dry conditions in the central Mediterranean. That often means several weeks of clear skies in Italy at this time of year - but this time temperatures are also unusually high.
'Temperatures this October are 4-6°C above average, depending on the region,” said Bernardo Gozzini, director of the LaMMA-Cnr scientific research centre, in an interview with Italy’s Corriere newspaper on Thursday.
For some parts of the country the entire month has been mild and relatively dry, with especially warm weather in the south prompting some people to return to the beaches.
The so-called “ottobrata romana” - a typical Roma October day of clear, uninterrupted sunshine and balmy warmth - is a sight to behold pic.twitter.com/nIqsfUpUEz
— Andrea Carlo (@andcarlom) October 16, 2022
Antonio Sanò, director of weather website Ilmeteo, said Italy’s major islands of Sicily and Sardinia could see temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius this week.
“But the truly exceptional climate will certainly be spoken of also in the central-northern regions,” he added, predicting “peaks of 25-26 degrees in cities such as Bologna, Ferrara, Florence, and in [the southern cities of] Rome, Bari and Naples.”
EXPLAINED: How melting glaciers are shifting the Italy-Switzerland border
Ilmeteo forecast rain in the north of the country on Friday or Saturday before temperatures soar again, predicting a “truly extraordinary Sunday”.
“Temperatures will rise everywhere, reaching peaks from the height of summer, especially in the centre-south and in particular in the inland areas of Sardinia.”
Weather website Meteogiornale said the “crazy weather” won’t end anytime soon, and that there’s “ever chance” Italy could set a new heat record for October.
“Temperatures are set to remain above the average by several degrees until the end of the month,” read one forecast on Wednesday, predicting that “the hottest heat is yet to come”.
'Temperatures this October are 4-6°C above average, depending on the region,” said Bernardo Gozzini, director of the LaMMA-Cnr scientific research centre, in an interview with Italy’s Corriere newspaper on Thursday.
Gozzini said this weather fits “the general warming trend: 2022 is the hottest year recorded in the country since 1800, the top twenty places in that ranking are all from 2000 onwards.”
He noted that heating wouldn’t need to be switched on this month even in places like Milan or Bologna, which would normally be getting cold by the end of October, “with consequent energy savings, which in times of crisis is welcome”.
But experts agree that the increasing frequency of such unseasonably warm weather is a cause for concern, with climate scientists warning that unstable weather now could precede disastrous flooding or other extreme weather events.
READ ALSO: Climate crisis: Italy records ‘five times’ more extreme weather events in ten years
“These anomalies occur with greater frequency and intensity and increase the meteorological variability,” physicist Paola Mercogliano of the Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate Change told Corriere.
“In addition to increased smog and stagnant pollution over the cities, this extreme heat increases evaporation and therefore the availability of water in the atmosphere. With the arrival of the first, normal, autumnal disturbance, new phenomena of extreme precipitation could occur,” she warned.
In Italy the number of extreme weather events including droughts, storms floods, hailstorms, strong winds and tornadoes has already been 42 percent higher in 2022 so far than last year.
Mercogliano said warm autumn weather won’t necessarily become the “new normal”.
“It is still possible to reverse the trend, but mitigation and adaptation policies are needed immediately to avoid further economic and health damage”.
Europe overall is likely to experience a warmer winter than average, the continent's long-range weather forecaster said last week, though a "cold blast" is predicted to sweep the continent in December.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.