Italy suffered a twin pounding from the elements on Tuesday when severe storms battered the north, killing a woman and a 16-year-old girl scout, while southern regions sweltered under a heatwave that has pushed temperatures towards record highs.
The government was preparing emergency measures to help regions hit by the extreme weather, with the northern region of Lombardy, which includes Milan, estimating damage of over 100 million euros .
"It all happened around 4 or 5 AM this morning, it was very short but very intense, it knocked down several trees...with the wind gusts they took off and broke up," witness Roberto Solfrizzo, 66, told Reuters. Tourist attractions also bore the brunt of the bad weather, as the Sforza Castle was shut after some tiles were brought down and rain was heavy enough to penetrate the glass-vaulted Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Milan's famed shopping arcade.maintained its grip, with 16 Italian cities on red alert on Tuesday because of the high temperatures.
In some parts of eastern Sicily, temperatures rose to 47.6 Celsius on Monday, close to a record European high of 48.8 Celsius recorded on the island two years ago.
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