Rescue services reported that two persons were killed by falling trees in central Italy on Thursday as strong storms pounded numerous regions following weeks of punishingly high temperatures.
The public protection division of Italy predicted that the inclement weather will move south overnight and issued warnings for 11 of the 20 regions of the nation for Friday.
In separate occurrences, trees at Tuscany claimed the lives of a man and a woman, while a tree that fell in a campground there injured four people.
In the Tuscan town of Piombino, a ferris wheel was captured on camera spinning out of control and sending at least one of the metal canopied chairs flying into the air. There was no one on the ride at the time, and no injuries were reported.
Tuscany’s president, Eugenio Giani, declared a state of emergency and described the region as being hit by ‘a wave of disaster.’
Large café umbrellas were swept across St. Mark’s Square in Venice by strong winds further north, and the nearby bell tower’s brickwork was torn to pieces.
In certain areas of northern Italy, the wind reached speeds of above 140 km/h, destroying seaside resorts in Tuscany and Liguria, according to meteorologists.
While rain and gales battered the north, a heatwave continued to grip most of southern Italy, with some areas of Sicily experiencing temperatures as high as 40C (104°F).
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