Italy storms: North hit by hail and rain as Sicily burns

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Extreme weather has been battering Italy from north to south.

Wildfires are raging in Sicily after weeks of record-breaking temperatures, with local media warning that the city of Palermo is "encircled" by fires.

Meanwhile, northern regions are reeling from violent storms and high winds that uprooted trees and lifted roofs off buildings.

In some places, tennis ball-sized hailstones injured people, damaged cars and destroyed crops.

A 16-year-old girl was killed when a tree fell on the tent she was sleeping in at a summer camp near the city of Brescia, while a middle-aged woman died after also being hit by a falling tree in Lissone, north of Milan.

Overnight, the regions of Lombardy and Veneto experienced torrential rainfall and extremely strong winds, which reached 100km/h (62mph) in Milan. On Tuesday, local authorities told residents to stay away from public parks, as there is a high risk that branches might snap off trees.

 

One of the city's main attractions, the 15th-Century Sforza Castle, was closed to the public on Tuesday "due to damage caused by severe weather".

The mayor of the city, Giuseppe Sala, said: "I have never seen anything like this... We can't deny it any longer - climate change is changing our lives.

"We can't pretend it's not happening and we absolutely can't keep doing nothing," Mr Sala said in a video shared on Facebook.

 

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