Italy has a Mediterranean climate. In spring it is warm, mild and fine. Summer is hot, especially in the south - but cooler in the mountains and at the beach. In the autumn it is cool, sometimes a little damp but not too windy. Winter in the south is much drier and warmer than in northern and central areas. Mountain regions are colder with heavy winter snowfalls.
Occasionally all parts of Italy have high temperatures in summer and even in autumn when the wind - the sirocco blows. The sirocco is a warm humid wind that comes in from North Africa. This wind often ends with heavy rain and thunder.
Temperatures in the sea are usually warm enough to make swimming pleasant
from mid May to October.
Alpine Italy
The weather here is more akin to the Swiss and Austrian Alps, with summer being the rainiest season with frequent thunderstorms. The mildest winters and warmest and sunniest summers are found in the region of lakes Maggiore, Como, and
Garda.
The Po Valley and North Italian Plain
This area is flat and low lying. The summers are hot and the winters cold for about
3 months. Fog, frost and snow are frequent and the area is colder than London in midwinter. In winter the area around Trieste can be affected by strong and gusty winds - the bora - which bring cold air from Europe.
Peninsular Italy and the Islands
The climate at the coast is very different from the interior. Higher areas are cold, wet and snowy. On the coast it has mild winters and hot, dry summers.
The whole of peninsular Italy and the islands of Sicily and Sardinia have very changeable weather in autumn, winter, and spring in contrast to the settled sunny weather of summer. |
