Italy hit by 'water bomb' floods as southern France battles wildfires

Daily Mail​

5 days ago

Italy has been hit by deadly 'water bomb' floods while southern France battles ferocious wildfires as wild weather continues to devastate Europe. Tragically, one woman lost her life in Lombardy, northern Italy, after a furious storm caused a tree to come crashing down to the ground. Viviana Maria Baldassini, 63, from San Vittore Olona, ​​died after being crushed by the tree trunk as she walked alongside her two friends who were both airlifted to hospital with injuries.
In Lombardy, an orange weather warning has been in place since Saturday with widespread damage and destruction recorded over the weekend. Just 50 miles away in Milan, severe flooding was reported as underpasses and roads were closed as a precaution. Traffic caused backlog on the roads and parks were closed due to the risk of falling trees.
'In Milan, in less than two hours, 50mm of rain, more than 40 interventions for fallen branches and trees and three closed underpasses,' the councilor for Public Works and Civil Protection of Milan, Marco Granelli said. On Sunday evening, lightning terrifyingly struck a train on the Milan-Rome high-speed line near the town of Melegnano. The vehicle was halted for safety checks and travellers witnessed delays of up to 70 minutes.
The horror weather continued to spread through the country, with Piedmont, a region of Italy bordering France and Switzerland hit with strong, destructive winds. A roof of an apartment in a residential area was blown off by the gusts, which also knocked down a tree in a local park. There were no reported injuries. Also in the northern regions of Emilia-Romagna and Friuli-Venezia Giulia there were temporary blackouts due to the ferocious storms, as hailstorms left Genoa battered.
Beauty spots Tuscany and Florence were also hit hard with bad weather as trees toppled on to parked cars and rains lashed down on to the usually sunny regions. In the Florence commune of Montespertoli, lightning chillingly split a cypress tree in half as it was revealed in local media that over the course of 12 hours, over over 27 thousand lightning strikes were recorded throughout the region. On Monday, the northern and central regions continued their relentless battle against the freak bad weather with the risk of violent storms, hailstorms and strong winds, especially in the Alps and Prealps, remaining high.
After a partial improvement expected this afternoon, new rainfall is set to batter Italy in the evening. In the south, however, it is still extremely hot. From mid-week, meteorologists predict the return of the African anticyclone. Temperatures are set to rise with peaks of 38C to 40C expected in Basilicata, Puglia and Sicily. Italy has placed 21 cities on red alert, including important ones, such as Rome, Milan and Naples.
Emergency rooms reported a 10 percent rise in heatstroke cases, according to Mario Guarino of the Italian Society of Emergency Medicine. Elsewhere, countries across the Mediterranean are battling fast-spreading wildfires and soaring temperatures as a heatwave sweeps through Southern Europe and parts of the Middle East, prompting evacuations and emergency alerts.
Blazes broke out in Greece, Turkiye, France and Syria on Sunday, with several other nations on high alert as forecasters warned that the scorching weather would intensify in the coming days. Emergency teams and ambulances were stationed near popular tourist destinations, while meteorologists warned that extreme heat events are becoming more frequent and intense. France saw wildfires break out in the Corbieres region of Aude in the southwest, where temperatures soared above 40C.
A campsite and a historic abbey were evacuated due to the levels of danger. Meteo France placed 84 of the country's 101 departments under orange-level heat alerts on Monday. Fires are ongoing in Estézargues, Portel-des-Corbières and Fréjus, where tourists are reportedly being evacuated due to the blaze's proximity to a campsite, reports Connexion France .
The emergency services also remain mobilised in Moux and Fabrègues, although the fires have now been largely contained. But large areas of France remain on high alert for wildfires, following last weeks heatwave, as firefighters are bracing for further incidents in the weeks to come. In Var, a fire started at Fréjus near the Camping du Colombier at around noon on Monday. Within one hour, 95 firefighters were at the scene.
By 2pm, they declared the fire was under control, but it continued to burn on over two hectares of land. In Hérault, a fire began in Fabrègues early on Saturday afternoon, spreading rapidly to neighbouring Mireval, forcing the authorities to order several home evacuations and cutting power to hundreds of homes. At its peak, over 400 firefighters, four Canadair water bombers, and more than 60 vehicles were deployed.
Fire crews worked through the night, and by 02:00am on July 7 the blaze was declared 'under control' by Jérôme Bonnafoux, spokesperson for the Hérault fire service. Nearly 400 hectares of brushland and pine forest were affected, although the final figure is expected to be revised after full mapping with drones. 'The wind has picked up again this morning,' Mr Bonnafoux told Franceinfo on Sunday, 'and though the temperature has dropped slightly, we are keeping watch to prevent any reignition.'
In Spain, the national weather agency AEMET reported temperatures reaching 44C in parts of Extremadura and Andalusia. 'I feel that the heat we're experiencing is not normal for this time of year,' said Diego Radames, a 32-year-old photographer in Madrid, speaking to the AFP news agency. 'Madrid just keeps getting hotter.' Portugal also faced extreme conditions, with the capital, Lisbon, under a red warning until Monday night. Two-thirds of the country was on high alert for wildfires and extreme heat.