Italy’s first orange heat alerts have been activated in multiple cities as a new African heat wave sweeps across the country, signaling significant health risks for vulnerable populations. Florence and Rieti will face the highest-level orange warnings—indicating danger for the elderly and medically fragile—on Thursday, with only the red alert posing greater risk to the general public.
This escalation follows a rapid shift in conditions: While all 27 monitored cities registered green (no risk) on Tuesday, four cities—Bolzano, Florence, Perugia, and Rieti—were upgraded to yellow (pre-alert status) by Wednesday.
Thursday’s forecast reveals a broader crisis, with 11 cities under yellow alerts alongside the two orange zones. The yellow-list includes Bologna, Brescia, Frosinone, Latina, Milan, Rome, Trieste, Verona, and Viterbo, in addition to Bolzano and Perugia. Notably, the Lazio region will see all five of its provincial capitals under heat warnings—four yellow and one orange (Rieti)—reflecting the intensifying threat.
The tiered alert system, managed by Italy’s health ministry, uses color-coded indicators to activate targeted public health measures during extreme temperatures.