At least five people have died and emergency conditions prevail across much of Italy as African anticyclone Cerberus drives temperatures towards 40°C.Italy is in the grip of an intense heatwave, with at least five heat-related deaths recorded in the space of two days and a growing number of cities placed on the highest level of alert.The Italian health ministry has been issuing its maximum Level 3 red alert - known as the bollino rosso - for cities across Italy, including Rome and Milan. Red alert The red alert list for Thursday 25 June includes 17 cities: Ancona, Bari, Bologna, Bolzano, Brescia, Florence, Frosinone, Latina, Milan, Perugia, Pescara, Rieti, Rome, Turin, Venice, Verona and Viterbo. This number will rise to 18 cities on Friday 26 June, with the addition of Genoa. The red alert denotes emergency conditions with possible negative health effects not only for vulnerable groups such as the elderly, very young children and those with chronic illness, but also for healthy, active adults. Casualties Among those who lost their lives was a 61-year-old man in the province of Piacenza who collapsed and died in a vineyard in the Val Nure where he had been working. A 57-year-old homeless man of Indian origin was found dead in Piazza Municipio in Naples, and heat is suspected as the cause. In Giulianova, in the province of Teramo, an 87-year-old tourist from the Marche region collapsed on the beach while walking along the shoreline and could not be resuscitated. A 56-year-old man died in front of his parents' grave at the cemetery in Garlasco (Pavia), while a technician died after falling ill while working on a water system in the Padua area. Emergency admissions to accident and emergency departments across Italy have risen by 15 per cent. Major cities including Milan, Rome, Turin, Venice and Bologna have issued protective ordinances for outdoor workers and vulnerable residents. Cerberus The heat is being driven by the African anticyclone known as "Cerberus", producing temperatures with little variation between day and night, and leading to highs of up to 40°C. The extreme conditions have strained infrastructure across the country. Repeated power blackouts have hit various cities, prompting the mayor of Turin to issue an emergency ordinance. In Pescara, power failures caused problems in the sewage network, leading to a temporary swimming ban along a 450-metre stretch of coastline. In Florence, the air-conditioning system at the Uffizi Gallery broke down under the strain on Wednesday, forcing the museum to cap visitor numbers and suspend ticket sales for the day. Health minister Orazio Schillaci announced that a technical meeting would be held at the ministry on Thursday to assess options to address the emergency, saying that protecting the elderly, the very young and other vulnerable groups was the overriding priority. Meteorologists have warned that this spell of anomalous heat could potentially rival the extreme summer of 2003, with conditions not expected to ease significantly until early July. Photo credit: Vereshchagin Dmitry / Shutterstock.com

Italy is in the grip of an intense heatwave, with at least five heat-related deaths recorded in the space of two days and a growing number of cities placed on the highest level of alert. The Italian health ministry has been issuing its maximum Level 3 red alert - known as the bollino rosso - for cities across Italy, including Rome and Milan. The for Thursday 25 June includes 17 cities: Ancona, Bari, Bologna, Bolzano, Brescia, Florence, Frosinone, Latina, Milan, Perugia, Pescara, Rieti, Rome, Turin, Venice, Verona and Viterbo. This number will rise to 18 cities on Friday 26 June, with the addition of Genoa. The red alert denotes emergency conditions with possible negative health effects not only for vulnerable groups such as the elderly, very young children and those with chronic illness, but also for healthy, active adults. Among those who lost their lives was a 61-year-old man in the province of Piacenza who collapsed and died in a vineyard in the Val Nure where he had been working. A 57-year-old homeless man of Indian origin was found dead in Piazza Municipio in Naples, and heat is suspected as the cause. In Giulianova, in the province of Teramo, an 87-year-old tourist from the Marche region collapsed on the beach while walking along the shoreline and could not be resuscitated. A 56-year-old man died in front of his parents' grave at the cemetery in Garlasco (Pavia), while a technician died after falling ill while working on a water system in the Padua area. Emergency admissions to accident and emergency departments across Italy have risen by 15 per cent. Major cities including Milan, Rome, Turin, Venice and Bologna have issued protective ordinances for outdoor workers and vulnerable residents. The heat is being driven by the African anticyclone known as "Cerberus", producing temperatures with little variation between day and night, and leading to highs of up to 40°C. The extreme conditions have strained infrastructure across the country. Repeated power blackouts have hit various cities, prompting the mayor of Turin to issue an emergency ordinance. In Pescara, power failures caused problems in the sewage network, leading to a temporary swimming ban along a 450-metre stretch of coastline. In Florence, the air-conditioning system at the Uffizi Gallery broke down under the strain on Wednesday, forcing the museum to cap visitor numbers and suspend ticket sales for the day. Health minister Orazio Schillaci announced that a technical meeting would be held at the ministry on Thursday to assess options to address the emergency, saying that protecting the elderly, the very young and other vulnerable groups was the overriding priority. Meteorologists have warned that this spell of anomalous heat could potentially rival the extreme summer of 2003, with conditions not expected to ease significantly until early July. Photo credit: Vereshchagin Dmitry / Shutterstock.com