Red alert across Italian cities as heatwave strains coast

Italy's health ministry placed 27 cities, from Trieste in the northeast to Palermo in Sicily, on red alert ahead of the weekend as a blistering heatwave across much of Europe toppled temperature records and disrupted energy and transportation systems, France 24 reported. The alert covers the country's major urban centres, signalling extreme health risk for vulnerable populations.

The heat has set a national temperature record in Austria, fueled wildfires in France and disrupted energy and transportation systems across the continent, CBS News reported. The Local Italy noted that temperatures across much of Italy are approaching or exceeding those recorded during the infamous summer of 2003, as heatwaves become more frequent.

For Liguria, the red alert carries particular weight. The region's coastal cities — Genoa, La Spezia, Savona — combine dense urban populations with a summer influx of tourists drawn to the Riviera and Cinque Terre. The heat compounds pressure on transport networks, with the Local Italy reporting that Rome's newest metro line is facing criticism over high temperatures while air conditioning systems on electric buses struggle with conditions they were not designed for.