Italy enters the first major heat wave of the summer of 2026, with peaks predicted between 39°C and 40°C in some regions. The hot air advances from the Sahara and gains strength from this Wednesday (17) onwards.
An anticyclone coming from the south is pushing temperatures above the seasonal average and keeping the rain away, according to the website ilmeteo.it, the most read in the country for weather forecasts. The heat is expected to intensify until Thursday (18) and remain strong throughout the weekend.
Starting Wednesday, cities in the Po Valley and much of central Portugal are expected to exceed 35°C. Peak temperatures of 39°C to 40°C are expected on Thursday or Friday in Bologna. FlorençaFoggia and in the interior of Sardinia.
“This is the first serious heat wave of the anomalous June that will usher in the summer of 2026,” stated Federico Brescia, a meteorologist from the website. He described a hot and stable period, with dry desert air spreading across the Mediterranean.
Along the coast, high humidity is expected to turn the heat into a muggy sweltering atmosphere, with little wind to provide relief at night. ilmeteo.it also predicts "tropical nights" in major cities, with temperatures rising above 20°C after sunset.
Alert for vulnerable groups
The Ministry of Health placed nine cities on the lowest pre-alert level this Wednesday, including Bologna, Florence, Rome, and Turin. Five of them are expected to move up to the orange alert, "level 2," on Thursday.
The orange alert warns of heat that could harm the elderly, chronically ill, young children, and other vulnerable people. The forecast is for the heat to remain intense until next week.
Brief showers are possible in inland areas of central and southern Italy until Monday, but are not expected to break the heat. The heatwave follows Italy's second warmest spring on record, according to data from Copernicus, the European Union's climate monitoring service.
The period from March to May was above the average for 1991 to 2020, following an unusually strong March, a warm April, and the heat wave at the end of May.
