Italy braces for new heatwave with temperatures to hit 42°C
The third heatwave of the summer descended on Monday, with temperatures forecast to exceed 40°C across much of the centre and south and reach 42°C in parts of Sardinia, according to weather website ilMeteo.it.
The hottest conditions are expected on Tuesday and Wednesday, when hot air from the Sahara will cover much of the peninsula, with 38-39°C forecast for inland Lazio and Tuscany.
Sardinia's civil protection authority issued a high wildfire alert for much of the island, warning that fires could quickly become uncontrollable.
READ ALSO: What to do and what to avoid if you see a wildfire in Italy
In Palermo, fire crews responded to 33 separate blazes in under 24 hours on Sunday, Sky TG24 reported. Two men drowned in Lombardy after entering rivers to cool off: a 60-year-old in the Ticino near Milan, and a 28-year-old in the Oglio near Brescia.
Piedmont holds emergency meeting on drought
Italy's northwestern Piedmont region was set to decide on Monday whether to call a state of emergency over drought, with the River Po at a quarter of its usual levels for July.
"The overall situation continues to worsen, temperatures are not dropping and rainfall is scarce," said the head of the environmental protection agency in the region, where the river has its source.
READ ALSO: Po valley faces water cuts as drought tightens grip
Veneto in the northeast, where the Po flows into the Adriatic, declared a state of emergency at the beginning of this month due to drought.
The situation across the Po Valley was "extremely critical," the Po River District Basin Authority said on Saturday, with available stocks in the river basin likely to be exhausted in 10 days if there was no rainfall.
Herculaneum reopens 'House of Carbonised Furniture' after 30 years
The Archaeological Park of Herculaneum, near Pompeii, has reopened one of its most famous sites to the public following a three-decade-long restoration project.
The House of Carbonised Furniture (Casa del Mobilio Carbonizzato) gets its name from the charred wooden furnishings that were discovered by archaeologists in the early 1930s, including a small table and a high-backed bed.
The site's reopening "restores a human story made up of everyday gestures" that the eruption "froze in time", said the park's director Federica Colaiacomo.
More parts of the ancient Roman city, which was buried alongside Pompeii in the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius, were due to open to the public this autumn, news agency Ansa reported.
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