Panic in Italy as severe weather and landslides cause huge delays for tourists | World | News

Severe storms and extremely heavy rainfall have caused widespread flooding in Italy’s northern regions.

New government travel advice is urging Brits to reconsider their holiday plans as ‘no trip can be guaranteed to be safe’.

Heavy rainfall has caused landslides and flooding in northern Italy, severely disrupting transport. Heavy rains have caused rivers and streams to overflow.

Due to the severe weather, several cities, including Genoa, Rapallo, Savona and Chiavari in Liguria, Livorno and Siena in Tuscany, and Emilia Romagna, suffered water damage and chaos.

In the Liguria region, more than 200 millimeters of rain fell within 18 hours, while areas in Tuscany received 100 millimeters of rain. In the Emilia Romagna region, more than 160 millimeters of rain fell in the city of Bologna.

Emergency operations have been launched in many of these areas over the past week.

In Emilia Romagna, 300 firefighting interventions were carried out, especially in Bologna, where rivers overflowed their banks.

In Siena, 60 rescue missions were carried out, including the rescue of 30 people from rising waters in Campiglia Marittima.

Residents of retirement homes were evacuated as a precaution. Meanwhile, in Livorno, more than 100 operations were carried out to help people trapped in vehicles or cellars due to the flooding.

Government advice advises travelers to contact tour operators or accommodation providers before travel and follow instructions from local authorities. It also urges Britons to take out appropriate travel insurance to cover travel itineraries, planned activities and expenses in the event of an emergency.

Floods have inundated a train station in Siena, inundating the tracks and causing significant service disruptions across the region. The tram lines in Florence have also been damaged as a result of the rain showers.

In Sicily, the Italian island was also hit hard by the storm as emergency services rescued people from the roofs of buildings and stranded vehicles.

In the Sicilian province of Agrigento, a river burst its banks in several places, flooding part of the coastal city of Licata.

According to MeteoAlarm, moderate weather warnings remain in effect across Italy for the next 24 hours.