Italy experiencing hottest year since 1800

ROME

Italy is experiencing a year that broke all heat records since records began in 1800, the National Research Center of Italy said Tuesday.

High temperatures recorded in December 2022 are in line with the remaining 11 months, according to the Center’s climatologist Bernardo Gozzini.

The year's record is related to high and average temperatures, said Gozzini, adding that the record for low temperatures was in 2018.

Temperatures across the country are expected to be 5 - 6 degrees Celsius above the average on New Year's Eve.

Italy experienced the most severe drought in the last 70 years due to the extreme heat and lack of rainfall during the year.

The drought caused a loss of €6 billion ($6.4 billion), especially in the agricultural sector, according to Coldiretti, the largest organization of farmers at the national and European level with one-and-a-half million members.