Wildfires driven by an extreme heatwave have encircled Palermo after temperatures in the Sicilian city climbed to 47C (117F) on Monday.
But while the heat stifles the south, northern regions continued to bear the brunt of bad weather caused by the arrival of cooler air from northern Europe, with more torrential rain and gales forecast in Lombardy, Trentino Alto Adige, Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia.
Giuseppe Sala, the mayor of Milan, said residents endured a sleepless night as winds exceeded 63 mph (100 km/h).
Sala said: “What we are seeing is not normal. We can no longer deny that climate change is changing our lives. We can no longer turn a blind eye, and above all, we can’t not do anything.”
The civil protection minister, Nello Musumeci, said: “Climate change is not just a contingency and Italy must realise that it now has a tropical climate. On one hand, we are paying the price of climate change, for which we should have paid more attention several years ago, and, on the other, of infrastructure that does not seem to be totally adequate for the new context.