It said agriculture all over the country is having major issues as a consequence.
The association said that data from the European Severe Weather Database (ESWD) showed that Sicily experienced three extreme weather events in just one day on Thursday — a rain bomb in Siracusa, violent storms in the Cassaro area and gale-force winds in Catania.
It said heavy snowfalls had also caused huge problems in Vibo Valentia in Calabria.
As a result of the extreme weather, many fields are flooded, greenhouses have been damaged, trees have been knocked over and farmers are having difficulty reaching, harvesting and moving their crops in many areas.
In the north, meanwhile, water supplies remain under stress after last year's long drought, with precipitation levels down 40 per cent in 2022.
As a result the River Po's level is very low, as are a several large lakes in the north.
Lake Garda is 35 per cent full, Lake Maggiore is at 37 per cent and Lake Como is down to just 21 per cent.
Scientists say that extreme weather events like the heat waves, supercharged storms, flooding and droughts are becoming more frequent and more intense because of climate change caused by human activity.
In related news, a landslide caused by torrential rain uncovered coffins and tombs at a cemetery near Catania on Friday, local sources said.
The slide hit the cemetery at Mineo, in the Catanese province, causing small chapels and burial niches to slip away and be exposed.
"Our village is almost isolated," Mineo Mayor Giuseppe Mistretta said.
"We are only just managing to keep the provincial road 31 open, we risk being without water because of well failures, and dozens and dozens of families are currently out of reach.
"We are coordinating interventions with the prefecture of Catania.
"The cemetery? An area that has not withstood the rain and is difficult to reach has collapsed.
"For the moment we have to think about the living, then the dead."
ANSA
