The sweltering temperature was registered in Floridia, in the south-east of the island, beating Italy’s previous all-time record of 48.5°C in Catenanuova, also in Sicily, in 1999.
There is some dispute about whether this was the hottest-ever temperature previously recorded in Europe, with the World Meterological Organisation stating the official record as 48.0°C in Athens in 1977.
However, Wednesday’s temperature breaks both of these previous records, if confirmed by the national weather service.
The news comes amid what forecasters warned would be the “hottest week of the summer”, as Italy faces the extreme heat brought by the “Lucifer” anticyclone, a wave of hot air from the Sahara.
Italy’s civil protection agency sounded the alarm over the heightened risk of wildfires due to the weather conditions this week.
The island of Sicily and the region of Calabria in particular have already been battling fires throughout the summer – most caused by arson and fuelled by heat.
Thousands of blazes have been recorded across the peninsula in recent weeks, with one in the west of the island of Sardinia ravaging almost 20,000 hectares during the worst fires seen in decades.
