Late-season snow returns to Tuscany’s mountains

A cold spell brought unusual mid-May snowfall to parts of the Tuscan Apennines and Mount Amiata, with temperatures dropping sharply across the region ahead of a weekend expected to feel more like autumn than spring.

Snow fell overnight between Thursday 14 and Friday 15 May 2026 bin the higher areas of the Tuscan Apennines, particularly around Abetone Cutigliano, a mountain municipality in the province of Pistoia about 80 kilometres north-west of Florence. The heaviest snowfall was recorded in Val di Luce, one of Tuscany’s main ski areas, where more than 5 centimetres accumulated at higher elevations.

The snowfall created rare late-spring scenes on ski slopes that had already closed for the season weeks ago. Residents in the area noted that late snowfalls were more common decades ago, when ski resorts often remained open beyond the May Day holiday period.

Although the snow has no practical impact on this year’s ski season, local tourism operators viewed it positively after what they described as a strong winter season for visitor numbers and revenues. Webcam images from the area attracted significant online attention on Friday morning as people checked the unusual May snowfall.

The cold front also affected other mountainous parts of Tuscany. In the province of Massa-Carrara, light snowflakes were reported in Zeri, a small mountain town near the Ligurian and Emilia-Romagna borders, although without significant accumulation.

Further south, snow also returned to Monte Amiata, the extinct volcano and ski destination between the provinces of Grosseto and Siena. According to local reports, up to 2.5 centimetres of snow accumulated near the summit overnight into Friday.

Elsewhere in southern Tuscany, the weather system brought heavy rain, strong winds and a sharp drop in temperatures along the Maremma coast.

Forecasts indicate that cooler-than-average temperatures are expected to continue through the weekend across much of Tuscany, with unsettled weather and conditions more typical of late autumn than mid-May.

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