Heatwaves are scorching Italy: 19 cities are on red alert on Saturday, including Naples.

Rome – Italy is bracing for a scorching weekend. The heat wave approaching the peninsula is about to make a real breakthrough, causing temperatures to soar and cities to become extremely dangerous for health.

While today's maximum alert only concerns three urban centers, the situation is set to rapidly worsen in the next few hours:

Friday, July 31: the number of cities with red warnings will rise to 11 (Bolzano, Campobasso, Civitavecchia, Florence, Frosinone, Latina, Perugia, Rieti, Rome, Turin, and Viterbo).

Saturday, August 1st: The emergency will peak, with a total of 19 cities in the red zone. Bologna, Brescia, Cagliari, Milan, Naples, Pescara, Venice, and Verona will join the already affected hubs.

There's also little respite for the rest of the country. Also on Saturday, the Ministry of Health's bulletin indicated five cities (Bari, Catania, Genoa, Palermo, and Trieste) were placed under an orange warning, signaling weather conditions that pose a high risk, especially for the most vulnerable segments of the population.

Authorities still urge people to limit sun exposure during the hottest hours of the day, stay hydrated, and pay close attention to the elderly and children.