‘I’ve never seen heat this bad. It’s not normal’: Italy struggles as temperature tops 40C

Anticyclone Caronte could send thermometer to 48C/118F as Mediterranean heatwave intensifies

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A fierce anticyclone named after Cerberus, a three-headed monster-dog that features in Dante's Inferno, had not even ended before Italians were warned that a more intense one called Caronte, or Charon, who in Greek mythology was the ferryman of the dead, was on its way.

Italy sweltered in temperatures reaching highs of 38C over the weekend, while Caronte will grip the country from Monday, sending the mercury beyond 40C in central and southern regions, with the islands of Sicily and Sardinia possibly hitting a peak of 48C.