Thermal overturn in Italy, Arctic cold arrives (even in the south): forecasts for the coming days

Change of scenario in sight for the country: just before the start of spring, a sharp thermal reversal is expected starting Wednesday evening, with the invasion of a polar-arctic front over Italy.

This is reported by Lorenzo Tedici, meteorologist from iLMeteo.it. “A deep trough filled with icy air will detach directly from the Norwegian Arctic regions, plunging down through the North Sea. This glacial tongue - explains Tedici - will first hit the United Kingdom, France, and the Alpine regions, before violently breaking into the entire Peninsula, starting from the North and then spreading to the rest of Italy.”

The clash between the freezing cold air and the ground, along with the seas already warmed by the mildness of recent weeks, will trigger marked thermal contrasts and locally intense phenomena: stormy gusts, heavy showers, hail, and a significant drop in temperatures of up to 10-12°C.

The context will return to a fully winter-like state: snow, driven by the icy winds, will fall at unusually low altitudes for the period, blanketing the hills up to about 300 meters between Thursday and Friday.

The arctic invasion will also bring an additional criticality, much feared by the agricultural sector: the risk of late frosts. Between the nights and the early hours of Friday and Saturday, the clearing of the sky and ground cooling will favor local frosts in the plains and valleys of the Center-North, with potential damage to crops already in bloom.

Once the storm subsides, the weekend should present itself as more stable and sunny, but with a crisp thermal profile and cold mornings.

Looking ahead, towards Easter and in the realm of “fantameteo,” the hypothesis of persistent instability at the European level is taking shape: at the moment, the most likely scenario for Italy is a variable and cool Easter phase, far from the established spring warmth.

In detail - Tuesday 24:

North: clear or partly cloudy.

Center: clear or partly cloudy.

South: variable with showers in the mountains, especially between Sicily and Calabria.

Wednesday 25:

North: arctic front arriving in the afternoon/evening with thunderstorms, particularly in Liguria and the Northeast; snow in the Alps.

Center: partly cloudy, local unstable conditions in upper Tuscany.

South: predominantly clear or partly cloudy sky.

Thursday 26:

North: bad weather associated with the Arctic front.

Center: bad weather linked to the Arctic front.

South: bad weather due to the passage of the Arctic front.

Trend:

Friday: risk of late frosts in the Center-North, snow still in the hills and winter temperatures; residual instability in the South and over the Mid Adriatic.

Weekend: sunnier but still lively in terms of temperatures, with lows locally below zero even in the plains.