Heat – In Tuscany, cattle sheds are cooled with fans

(Photo: Pixabay)

In the city of Florence, the thermometer reached 40 degrees Celsius, but the daytime temperature has been consistently above 35 degrees for days on the surrounding hills and fields. According to Coldiretti, cowsheds need a continuous water supply, as the animals drink up to 140 liters of water per head per day, which is almost twice as much as in less warm periods.

Fans have been set up in the stables and the animals are given a cooling shower to help them cope with the heat

They also pay more attention to the cattle’s diet in the extreme heat. Coldiretti added that the heatwave from Africa is only the “tip of the iceberg” of the weather so far in 2023, after the drought at the start of the year and the subsequent period of extreme rainfall and flooding.

The highest degree of heat alert is in effect in 23 Italian cities on Tuesday and Wednesday

Among them are Rome, Florence, Naples, Messina, Catania, Palermo, Perugia and Pescara. By Thursday, their number will be reduced to 18. In Rome, the heat is expected to peak in the afternoon with values between 41 and 43 degrees. At the most visited points, at the Colosseum, Szent Péter Square and at the busiest metro stops, civil defense volunteers distribute bottled water. The Red Cross is also present at nearly thirty points in the city. Potted plants were placed at the bus stops so that some of the waiting people could be in the shade. A heat alert has also gone into effect in Roman hospitals, which means that a special team is waiting for those sick due to the heat in the first aid departments. The Roman energy provider Acea expects the highest consumption value of the year on Tuesday. In the cities of Naples and Bari, people over sixty-five were advised not to go out on the streets at all. On Monday, 43 of the 377 municipalities on the island of Sardinia measured forty degrees or warmer. The air humidity is ninety percent. At the same time, the civil defense issued an alert until Thursday in the territory of the northeastern province of Friuli Venezia Giulia due to sudden storms.

MTI