At least six people have died in violent rainstorms sweeping across Italy on Sunday (Sept 10), with the Tuscan city of Livorno taking the brunt of the flooding, fire services said.The Corriere della Sera daily said the dead were a little girl, her parents and a grandparent.A fifth body was found in an area devastated by landslides. Three other people were missing, the fire brigade said."The situation is very difficult, it's critical. We fear a disaster," Livorno mayor Filippo Nogarin said.Italy's civil protection service issued a code orange alert for Florence as the storms, which began in northern Italy overnight, swept down the country towards the south.Underpasses were being closed as a precaution in the capital Rome.Coldiretti, Italy's main agricultural organisation, said the bad weather was aggravated by coming hard on the heels of a drought which had left the land drier than usual and unable to soak up the rains.Rainfall in Tuscany in particular had been down 57 per cent this summer, it said."The tropicalisation of the climate is causing an increase in extreme weather events, with heat waves, heavy cloud bursts and violent hailstorms which are damaging the national agricultural production," Coldiretti said.It put the cost of the damage at over 14 billion euros (S$22.54 billion) in the last 10 years. </s> Torrential rain in Italy has triggered flooding that killed at least five people in the Tuscan port town of Livorno.

Italian state television said four of the victims were family members whose bodies were found in their flooded basement on Sunday.

Some Italian media reports put the death toll at six.

Mayor Filippo Nogarin said he could not confirm the number, but added that casualties could increase because several people were missing. </s> Rome, July 31 - The heat wave Italy is enduring has prompted the health ministry to declare a maximum, level three alert for five cities in the north and centre of the country on Tuesday - Bologna, Bolzano, Genoa, Perugia and Pescara. Three more cities, Florence, Rieti and Campobasso, will be put on level three alert on Wednesday. The intense heat is forecast to last until the first weekend of August, at least. </s> PARIS (AP) — Schools are dousing kids with water and nursing homes are equipping the elderly with hydration sensors as France and other nations battle a record-setting heat wave baking much of Europe.

Several people have died around the continent in incidents that authorities are linking to the exceptional weather. A major wildfire raged Friday in Spain, sparked when a pile of chicken dung spontaneously combusted in the heat.

Several countries have reported record temperatures this week, and France hit its all-time heat record Friday: 45.1 C (113 F) in the small southern town of Villevieille, according to French media.

The French national weather service activated its highest-level heat danger alert for the first time, putting four regions around Marseille and Montpellier in the south of the country under special watch Friday.

Those schools that stayed open worked to keep kids cool. Teachers at the Victor Hugo Primary School in Colombes near Paris abandoned suffocating classrooms and are keeping children outside all day, spraying them with water and organizing quiet activities in the shade.

“I make them go in the playground with books, in the shade, they must stay seated,” said teacher Valerie Prevost. “We tell them to dampen their caps, to drink regularly.”

About 4,000 schools closed because they couldn’t ensure safe conditions, and local authorities canceled many end-of-school-year carnivals.

Some criticized the government for going overboard, but Prime Minister Edouard Philippe defended the efforts after 15,000 people died in a heat wave in 2003 that woke France up to the risks.

“This heat wave is exceptional by its intensity and its earliness,” he told reporters.

“Measures have been taken for the most vulnerable people,” he said “But given the intensity of the heat wave, it’s the entire population who must be careful today … both for oneself and for loved ones and neighbors.”

Italy put 16 cities under alerts for high temperatures, and civil security services distributed water to tourists visiting famed sites around Rome under a scorching sun.

Heat was blamed for the deaths of two people in Spain, private news agency Europa Press reported Friday.

An 80-year-old man collapsed and died in the street in Valladolid, in northwest Spain, the agency said, and a 17-year-old boy died in the southern city of Cordoba after diving into a swimming pool and losing consciousness.

Four people have drowned so far in France this week, and a 12-year-old girl drowned in a river near Manchester, England. France’s health minister and British police warned people to swim only in authorized areas.

France has also seen an uptick in so-called street-pooling, or illegally opening fire hydrants. A 6-year-old child is in life-threatening condition after being hit by water shooting from a cracked-open fire hydrant in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, broadcaster France-Info reported.

More than 600 firefighters and six water-dropping aircraft were battling the worst fire in two decades in the Catalonia region Friday, as Spain is forecast to endure the peak of its heat wave, with temperatures expected to exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

In Berlin, a police unit turned water cannons — usually used against rioters — on city trees, to cool them down.

Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Danica Kirka in London and Catherine Gaschka in Colombes, France, contributed.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> Paris – Schools are dousing kids with water and nursing homes are equipping the elderly with hydration sensors as France and other nations battle a record-setting heat wave baking much of Europe.

Several people have died around the continent in incidents that authorities are linking to the exceptional weather. A major wildfire raged Friday in Spain, sparked when a pile of chicken dung spontaneously combusted in the heat.

Several countries have reported record temperatures this week, and France hit its all-time heat record Friday: 111 degrees in the southern town of Carpentras, according to French media.

The French national weather service activated its highest-level heat danger alert for the first time, putting four regions around Marseille and Montpellier in the south of the country under special watch Friday.

Those schools that stayed open worked to keep kids cool. Teachers at the Victor Hugo Primary School in Colombes near Paris abandoned suffocating classrooms and are keeping children outside all day, spraying them with water and organizing quiet activities in the shade.

“I make them go in the playground with books, in the shade, they must stay seated,” said teacher Valerie Prevost. “We tell them to dampen their caps, to drink regularly.”

About 4,000 schools closed because they couldn’t ensure safe conditions, and local authorities canceled many end-of-school-year carnivals.

Some criticized the government for going overboard, but Prime Minister Edouard Philippe defended the efforts after 15,000 people died in a heat wave in 2003 that woke France up to the risks.

“This heat wave is exceptional by its intensity and its earliness,” he told reporters.

“Measures have been taken for the most vulnerable people,” he said “But given the intensity of the heat wave, it’s the entire population who must be careful today … both for oneself and for loved ones and neighbors.”

Italy put 16 cities under alerts for high temperatures, and civil security services distributed water to tourists visiting famed sites around Rome under a scorching sun.

Heat was blamed for the deaths of two people in Spain, private news agency Europa Press reported Friday.

An 80-year-old man collapsed and died in the street in Valladolid, in northwest Spain, the agency said, and a 17-year-old boy died in the southern city of Cordoba after diving into a swimming pool and losing consciousness.

Four people have drowned so far in France this week, and a 12-year-old girl drowned in a river near Manchester, England. France’s health minister and British police warned people to swim only in authorized areas.

France has also seen an uptick in so-called street-pooling, or illegally opening fire hydrants. A 6-year-old child is in life-threatening condition after being hit by water shooting from a cracked-open fire hydrant in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, broadcaster France-Info reported.

More than 600 firefighters and six water-dropping aircraft were battling the worst fire in two decades in the Catalonia region Friday, as Spain is forecast to endure the peak of its heat wave, with temperatures expected to exceed 104 Fahrenheit.

In Berlin, a police unit turned water cannons – usually used against rioters – on city trees, to cool them down.

Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Danica Kirka in London and Catherine Gaschka in Colombes, France, contributed. </s> Torrential rain in Italy has triggered flooding that killed at least five people in the Tuscan port town of Livorno.

Italian state television said four of the victims were family members whose bodies were found in their flooded basement on Sunday.

Some Italian media reports put the death toll at six. Mayor Filippo Nogarin said he could not confirm the number, but added that casualties could increase because several people were missing.

Mr Nogarin said “a crazy amount of rain” pummelled Livorno and “the city is literally devastated”.

Train services were interrupted in parts of the Tuscan coastal area.

In Rome, which until recently suffered through three and a half months of drought, the downpour made streets resemble fast-moving streams and several underground stations were closed. </s> Torrential rain in Italy has triggered flooding that killed at least five people in the Tuscan port town of Leghorn.

Italian state television said four of the victims were family members whose bodies were found in their flooded basement on Sunday.

Some Italian media reports put the death toll at six in Leghorn, also known in Italy as Livorno. Mayor Filippo Nogarin said he couldn’t immediately confirm the number, but added that casualties could increase because several people were missing.

Nogarin says “a crazy amount of rain” pummeled Leghorn and “the city is literally devastated.”

Train service was interrupted in parts of the Tuscan coastal area.

In Rome, which until recently suffered through 3½ months of drought, the downpour made streets resemble fast-moving streams and several subway stations were closed. </s> Rome, August 7 - The heat wave Italy is enduring is set to continue with the number of cities on the health ministry's maximum, level three alert set to go up to 12. On Tuesday 10 cities were on level three - Bologna, Bolzano, Brescia, Florence, Genoa, Milan, Perugia, Trieste, Venice and Verona. Rome will be added to the list on Wednesday and Turin will on Thursday. </s> MILAN — Italian firefighters say 12 people have been killed and three injured after a van accident in a town in southern Italy.

The ANSA news agency reported that the victims were immigrant farm workers returning from work Monday. The van they were driving hit a truck carrying tomatoes head-on, causing the van to overturn near the town of Foggia.

The nationalities of the victims have not been released.

This was a separate traffic accident from the deadly tanker truck explosion that took place Monday in Bologna, northern Italy, that left at least two people dead and up to 70 injured.
A heat wave in Genoa, Italy, kills seven people.