It was winding around the camp where there was a chance of a storm last night, but Taiz and his girlfriend didn’t mind. They were looking forward to “cooling off”, given the heat that has prevailed in Italy in recent days.

According to our correspondent in Italy, Anouk Boone, it is “extremely hot” in the country this week, with temperatures approaching 40 degrees. Just two days ago, a record high of 41.8 degrees was measured in Rome.

“everything was shaking”

So Taiz enjoyed the breeze, which started blowing about a quarter to eight last night. But that pleasure soon turned into fear. “Suddenly there was lightning and very strong winds. I think a wind gust of 120 kilometers an hour,” he said over the phone – a day later.

“Trees fell and branches snapped. We saw one flash after another and everything shook. Lightning struck up to 50 meters away, and a tree ended up in front of a family camper. Luckily everyone was unharmed.”

As if the storm wasn’t enough, it started to hail. “It was a huge noise,” says Tise. “You could hardly understand each other. The hailstones were so big that it looked like someone was hitting the tent with a hammer. It really hurt when I got out.”

panic

However, Relationships, just like many others from the campsite, have come out to damage limitation. “Everyone put a tarpaulin over the car. People also started putting extra stakes in the ground. Everyone tried to help each other. It was a big mess. People were crying. They were really panicking.”

Hailstorms occurred in quick succession. Thunder continued all night. “I couldn’t close my eyes until about 4 in the morning.”

Thunderstorms are getting more intense

The storm broke out in several regions of Italy last night. In the Treviso region, about 170 kilometers east of Lake Garda, there was a “hailstorm”. There hailstones fell from the sky (more than) ten centimeters and a fall speed of more than 150 km / h, as you can see in the video below:

According to meteorologist Maurice Middendorp, severe thunderstorms are particularly likely in the Southern Alps, at the interface between the type of air we’re in and that of the Mediterranean. “Because warmer air can hold more moisture, that means showers can get heavier,” says Middendorp. “So not only did the heat get worse, but the thunderstorms got worse as a result. This is also a point of interest for vacationers in the Southern Alps.”

inverted convoys

Relationships know all about it now. When he woke up this morning, he found the havoc wrought by the thunderstorm. “It was a great mess. Mud heaps, branches, half-trees, ground covers, unexposed tent poles, wind gauges and torn awnings were everywhere. Four caravans were also wrecked.”

Fortunately, he says, everyone helped each other. “And now he’s nice and warm again. But he was sexy.”

In the days leading up to severe thunderstorms, the heat swept across Italy, as does sweltering Tuscany, which we made this video about: