Italy’s northern city of Milan registers the highest average daily temperature for the past 260 years

Amid an ongoing heatwave that commenced in mid-August and peaked recently, the northern Italian city of Milan has marked a historic milestone by recording the highest average daily temperature in the past 260 years, as reported by the regional environmental protection agency (ARPA) on Friday (August 25).

On Wednesday (August 23), the Milano Brera weather station documented an average temperature of 33 degrees Celsius in Milan, setting a new record since temperature recording began in 1763.

Previously, the city’s highest recorded temperature stood at 32.8 degrees Celsius, which occurred on August 11, 2003.

Adding to this, the ARPA stated that on Thursday (August 24), Milan also witnessed the highest minimum temperature at 28.9 degrees Celsius. Interestingly, the Italian capital, Rome, had experienced an unprecedented peak of 41.8 degrees Celsius just the previous month.

This climatic occurrence is concurrent with the elevated temperatures sweeping through much of southern Europe, including Italy, resulting in wildfires, health advisories, and disruptions to tourists’ vacation plans.

The ARPA highlighted that August 23 and 24 marked the hottest days of the summer throughout the Lombardy region, encompassing Milan. Furthermore, the agency underlined that the Italian Alps also faced “intense and abnormal” temperatures.

Fortunately, some relief is on the horizon as the heatwave is anticipated to abate, as indicated by the ARPA. The agency forecasts heavy thunderstorms in the coming days, causing temperatures to plummet to 10-15 degrees Celsius.

According to the ARPA’s projections, the initial thunderstorms might manifest by the afternoon of August 26 in the Italian Alps and western elevated plains. The agency cautioned that these thunderstorms could be “very intense,” marked by medium-large hail and strong gusts of wind.

In recent findings, scientists confirmed what many had suspected: that these extreme weather patterns would be nearly impossible without human-driven climate change. The summer season has wreaked havoc across different parts of the globe, from record-breaking temperatures in the United States to life-threatening wildfires in parts of Europe.

Izidine Pinto of the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, one of the study’s authors, stated, “European and North American temperatures would have been virtually impossible without the effects of climate change.”