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When you imagine your future life in Italy, you probably have in mind the always-sunny Mediterranean climate that summer vacation dreams are made of.
But if you’ve followed Italian news recently, you know that the country has seen heatwaves, thunderstorms, wildfires, a tornado and golf-ball-sized hail – all in the last month.
Much of this is due to the global climate crisis, but it's also because Italy is so geologically diverse. It's home to a breadth of microclimates, from the subtropical climate of the Po Valley to the alpine environment of the Dolomites.
Needless to say, climate is something you’ll want to think carefully about when choosing where to live in Italy.
Two recent climate livability studies aimed to find out where in Italy has the best climate: not too hot or cold, nor too humid, and with the fewest extreme weather events.
While the in-depth reports differed on their exact rankings, they both found that the Adriatic coast has the best climate in the country.
The places the researchers say have the worst climate may surprise you, as they did me.
RANKED: The Italian cities with the best (and worst) climate
Many families with young children are attracted to Italy as a place to settle down. Whether for the Italian lifestyle, the relative safety, or the family-centred culture – which truly adores children – there are many reasons you might want to raise a family here.
Affordable childcare is often cited as one of the biggest upsides by parents from countries where costs are far higher. It costs a fraction of the averages in countries like the UK, US, and New Zealand, where childcare fees are among the highest in the developed world.
And in some regions, you can even get free childcare.
It's not all good news, though – working parents are left to their own devices for childcare for between one and three months each summer.
Italians usually rely on grandparents or other relatives to step in during this time off, but what happens if – as is the case for most of Italy’s foreign residents – you don’t have family around who can help out?
Working parents and readers of The Local wrote in to tell us how they manage childcare over Italy's three-month summer break for school-aged kids and the gap in childcare even for littler ones during July and/or August.
One reader summed it up: "For a country that in many ways is a wonderful, family-friendly place, the summer holiday situation is challenging.”
'It's challenging': How Italy’s working parents manage the long summer break
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