Italy's health ministry placed 27 cities, from Trieste in the country's northeast to Palermo in Sicily, on red alert ahead of the weekend as a blistering heatwave across much of Europe toppled temperature records and disrupted energy and transportation systems in several countries.
Italy placed all its major cities under the highest heat alert Thursday as a blistering heatwave gripped Europe, setting a national temperature record in Austria, fuelling wildfires in France and disrupting energy and transport systems across the continent.
