FLORENCE, ITALY – Wind and snow alert today, January 13, 2017, in Florence, Italy. The regional functional Centre issued the bulletin with the yellow code for wind and snow. The A1 highway (Florence-Bologna) was covered by the snow, with some traffic problems.
The sub-freezing temperatures and snow that have gripped Italy for a week are expected to last another 10 days due to a low-pressure area coming from northern Europe.
Rain, high winds and snow at a low altitude with temperatures expected to remain below the seasonal average across Italy over that period.
Higher temperatures will drop again Saturday January 14, 2017, when storms and snow are expected, especially in the Center and South.
In the last days hundreds of Italians remained stranded abroad due to problems linked to bad weather. Disruptions to water supplies due to frozen pipes were reported in Abruzzo and schools were set to remain closed in many parts of the country.
Farmers’ association Coldiretti also said prices of fresh vegetables had risen by 200% as a result of the freeze. The wave of Artic-like weather has claimed several lives in Italy in recent days, especially among homeless people.
Carabinieri police have saved 300 freezing and hungry dogs at Laterza near Taranto in Puglia whose municipal pound was cut off by heavy snow.