Summer — the real thing — has only just begun, and it is making itself felt with an African high-pressure system and temperatures well above average. The main problem is the drought that has been afflicting a large part of Italian territory for months, from north to south.

"In spring, rainfall was 48 per cent below the national average, and June is shaping up to be one of the hottest and driest in at least the last 10 years," says meteorologist Edoardo Ferrara of 3Bmeteo.com. Probably the hottest since the staggering record of June 2003. "The case of the Po is emblematic," Ferrara continues, "as it is estimated to be more than 2.5 metres below the hydrometric level according to readings taken in the Pavia area — 1.5 metres lower than the same period last year."

The River Po is dying of thirst

The River Po is already reduced to little more than a trickle at the point where it leaves the mountains and opens out towards the Cuneo plain. The Arpa hydrometric station at the Ponte dei Pesci Vivi in Staffarda, in the province of Cuneo, 30 kilometres downstream from the source, is recording just 13 centimetres of water above the hydrometric zero — though yesterday the level dropped as low as 8 centimetres.

In recent days, temperatures in these areas have climbed as high as 37.3 degrees (Villanova Solaro weather station). In the Cuneo plain, no particularly difficult situations have so far been recorded for agriculture, but in the mountains the snow is melting rapidly. At the Colle dell'Agnello, at an altitude of 2,748 metres behind Monviso, temperatures have not dropped below 8 degrees in recent days. This is a dangerous situation that could create irrigation problems as water tables fall over the coming months of July and August.

The regions worst affected by drought: Emilia Romagna and Tuscany

"Emilia Romagna has requested a state of emergency for drought, but many other regions are no better off — particularly those in the centre-south: among the worst-affected regions is undoubtedly Sardinia," Ferrara continues. "Damage to the agricultural sector is inevitable, but serious problems could also arise in water supply, which will have to be rationed. Reaching the start of summer already in severe water crisis is certainly not good news."

In Tuscany, the regional president Enrico Rossi has already declared a state of emergency for drought: "We have fewer problems on the water supply side for domestic consumption," while concerns over fires are mounting. The situation, however, is already dramatic for agriculture, and Rossi and the president of Emilia Romagna Stefano Bonaccini are expecting the government to intervene by declaring a state of emergency at national level.

"Our meteorological institute is telling us clearly," Rossi added on Radio24, "that every 5 years there is a drought because of climate change. It is clear that we have to come to terms with these situations, equipping ourselves as best we can and then fighting at a global level."

The climate is changing

"The heatwave currently affecting Italy will reach its peak over the weekend, but will be felt until Wednesday across the whole of the centre-north and will last throughout the coming week in the south," adds meteorologist Paolo Corazzon of 3Bmeteo.com. "This is yet further confirmation that the Mediterranean Sea and Italy are feeling the effects of global warming — which has been affecting the entire planet for several decades — more than other areas. This trend, together with the reduction in rainfall across the Mediterranean area, are, among other things, two aspects that the first studies on climate change carried out between the 1980s and 1990s had predicted."

These heatwaves, then, can no longer be considered occasional events. Rather, it is increasingly clear that they should be understood within the framework of climate change, which could see such episodes become ever more likely and frequent in the future. "An Italy that is increasingly hot and a climate that is increasingly dry," Corazzon concludes, "risk becoming the norm.