Health ministry issues warnings for fourth heatwave of the summer as temperatures soar across the country.Italy's health ministry has placed 25 of the 27 cities it monitors under the maximum red alert for extreme heat on Monday 3 August, as a subtropical anticyclone tightens its grip on the peninsula.  According to the ministry's latest heatwave bulletin, only Messina and Reggio Calabria will escape the top warning level on Monday, remaining on a yellow "pre-alert" that signals no immediate danger to health.   Every other monitored city, from Bolzano and Trieste in the north to Cagliari, Catania and Palermo in the south, will carry a red alert, or "bollino rosso" - Italy's highest heat-health warning.   Red alert, or level three, indicates emergency heatwave conditions that can pose a health risk not only to the elderly, very young children and those with chronic illnesses, but to the general population, including healthy and active adults.   The red-alert list has grown steadily through the weekend. Saturday saw 19 of the 27 monitored cities on red alert, rising to 23 on Sunday, before reaching 25 on Monday - the highest number recorded so far this summer and, meteorologists said, the fourth heatwave to hit Italy since late May.   The 25 cities on red alert on 3 August Monday's red-alert cities include Ancona, Bari, Bologna, Bolzano, Brescia, Cagliari, Campobasso, Catania, Civitavecchia, Florence, Frosinone, Genoa, Latina, Milan, Naples, Palermo, Perugia, Pescara, Rieti, Rome, Turin, Trieste, Venice, Verona and Viterbo. Temperatures are forecast to reach close to 40°C in Rome, Rieti, Viterbo, Frosinone and Latina, with highs of up to 44°C possible in inland areas of Sardinia, according to weather forecasters. High humidity is expected to push the perceived temperature even higher in coastal areas. The heatwave comes against a backdrop of persistent drought, with the level of the River Po reported at record lows and Lombardy's rice harvest under threat, while forecasters said the current spell of extreme heat could persist into the Ferragosto holiday in mid-August or beyond.   Photo credit: Adam McCullough / Shutterstock.com

Monday's red-alert cities include Ancona, Bari, Bologna, Bolzano, Brescia, Cagliari, Campobasso, Catania, Civitavecchia, Florence, Frosinone, Genoa, Latina, Milan, Naples, Palermo, Perugia, Pescara, Rieti, Rome, Turin, Trieste, Venice, Verona and Viterbo. Temperatures are forecast to reach close to 40°C in Rome, Rieti, Viterbo, Frosinone and Latina, with highs of up to 44°C possible in inland areas of Sardinia, according to weather forecasters. High humidity is expected to push the perceived temperature even higher in coastal areas.