ROME - Italy is basking in an unseasonal heatwave, with record high temperatures hit in the north and the center this week, the meteorological office said.
The Italian capital Rome saw the hottest start to November since records began, with the thermometer hitting 27.1 Celsius (80.78 Fahrenheit) this week against a previous high of 24.6 Celsius (76.28 Fahrenheit) in the first week of November, 1926.
Rome also registered record temperatures last week.
Likewise in the north eastern Friuli-Venezia-Giulia region, temperatures came in some 10 centigrade above average, with Udine seeing a top of 26 Celsius (78.80 Fahrenheit) - again the highest since records began almost 150 years ago.
But the unusually hot weather has also been accompanied in some places by fierce rainstorms and strong winds.
Venice spent a seventh day struggling against high waters this week, but officials said the floods, which had covered 80 percent of the lagoon-city at the weekend, were receding.
By contrast, the Italian meteorological office issued weather warnings for the south of Italy, saying heavy rains were expected to close in over the coming hours.
In July, freak weather caused the collapse of some of the most famous peaks in the Italian Dolomites. The erosion was accelerated by a summer of violent storms and an unseasonably cold and snowy winter, scientists said.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
