The country sweltered over the weekend, as “a mass of hot air from Africa” moved in over Italy and southern Europe, according to meteorologists.
But temperatures are expected to rise even more from Tuesday onwards.
Forecasts say this heatwave will be slightly less intense than the one last month, when temperatures reached above 40˚C.
Italy’s north-western regions will bear the brunt of this heatwave, with temperatures potentially rising above 40˚C on Wednesday, Thursday and possibly Friday.
Intense heat and humidity is set to take over a large part of the Po Valley, where between 10 and 30 per cent of crops were devastated during the previous heatwave.
Temperatures in southern Italy will be comparatively mild, with highs of 34˚C forecast for Puglia and Calabria for most of the week.
The mercury may reach 38˚C in Rome and 39˚C in Florence by Wednesday, meteorologists said.
There will also be “extreme heat points” in inland areas of Sardinia, Tuscany, and Umbria.
Temperatures are expected to drop slightly as the weekend rolls around.
Storms across the western Alps are forecast from the early hours of Saturday morning, bringing hail and strong winds.
These conditions will spread through northern and central Italy over Saturday and Sunday.
Southern Italy is set to dodge the stormy weather, with clear skies and high temperatures predicted over the weekend.
