The blanket of smog over the Po Valley, photographed from space by astronaut Paolo Nespoli, could lift from Sunday with the arrival of a weather front.
The quantity of PM10, that is, of particulate matter in the air, has reached alarming levels in recent days in many cities in northern Italy, including Milan and Turin. Between Sunday and Monday, however, a cold front is forecast to arrive over the country, which, thanks to rain and wind, will reduce the level of smog.
Milan has adopted temporary anti-pollution measures in recent days, while the situation in Turin is so serious that the mayor has urged residents to keep their windows closed and to avoid outdoor sport. As reported by the meteorology website 3Bmeteo.com, smog concentrations will continue to rise "until the early hours of Sunday, revealing poor/very poor air quality and with PM10 values that in some cases could approach 100 micrograms per cubic metre".
Read also: Astronaut Nespoli's photo from space shows that the Po Valley has a pollution problem
Fortunately, on Sunday a weather front is forecast to arrive that, "thanks to increased ventilation in the lower atmospheric layers and to precipitation", as meteorologist Fabio Da Lio of 3Bmeteo.com reports, will cause a mixing of the air and consequently a reduced concentration of pollutants.