Twelve Regions Under Storm Alert, and Sicily Waits for the Rain to Reach It

Twelve Italian regions were placed under storm alert on Friday as heavy rain caused flooding and disruption in parts of the country, The Local Italy reported. Forecasters expect conditions to improve over the weekend.

A separate report from the same outlet described a cold front arriving over Italy, with the north seeing the first showers before the rain moved toward the central and southern regions. Sicily, at the far southern end of that track, sits at the tail of the system.

The alert is a national one and the flooding reported so far has not been attributed to Sicily. What the coverage establishes is the direction of travel: a weather system crossing the peninsula from north to south, with the southern regions last in line.