Severe storms and extreme heavy rainfall has caused widespread floods across Italy’s northern regions.
Fresh travel advice from the Government urges Brits to rethink their holiday plans as ‘no travel can be guaranteed safe’.
Torrential rain has triggered landslides and flooding in northern Italy which has severely disrupted transport. Intense downpours have led to rivers and streams overflowing.
The severe weather has left multiple cities, including Genoa, Rapallo, Savona, and Chiavari in Liguria, Livorno and Siena in Tuscany, and Emilia Romagna grappling with water damage and chaos.
In the Liguria region, over 200 millimetres of rain fell within an 18-hour span, while areas in Tuscany received 100 millimetres. In the region of Emilia Romagna, more than 160 millimetres of rain fell in the city of Bologna.
Emergency operations were launched in many of these areas over the past week.
300 fire department interventions were carried out in Emilia Romagna, particularly in Bologna where rivers had burst their banks.
In Siena, 60 rescue missions were carried out, including the rescue of 30 people from rising waters in Campiglia Marittima.
Retirement home residents were evacuated as a precaution, meanwhile over 100 operations were carried out in Livorno to assist people trapped in vehicles or basements due to the flooding.
Government advice recommends travellers to check with tour operators or accommodation providers before travelling and follow the instructions of local authorities. It also urges Brits to get appropriate travel insurance which should cover itineraries, planned activities and expenses in an emergency.
Flooding has inundated a railway station in Siena, submerging the tracks which has caused significant disruption to services across the region. Tram lines in Florence have also been damaged as a result of the downpours.
Over in Sicily, the Italian island was also greatly impacted by the severe weather as emergency services rescued people from the roofs of buildings and stranded vehicles.
In the Sicillian province of Agrigento, a river breached its bank in several locations resulting in part of the coastal city, Licata, flooding.
According to MeteoAlarm, moderate weather warnings are still in place across Italy for the next 24 hours.