Italy Climate
Top 5 Cities: Rome, Milan, Naples, Turin, Palermo, San Marino, and Vatican
This month in numbers
Italy experienced its 7th warmest April on record in 2026, with an average temperature of 12.4°C, marking an anomaly of +2.1°C above the 1961–1990 baseline. The period of February to April 2026 was the 6th warmest on record, with an anomaly of +2.1°C. Globally, April 2026 was the 2nd warmest April on record for land temperatures, with an anomaly of +1.1°C, while the February to April period also ranked as the 2nd warmest globally for land temperatures, at +1.2°C above the baseline.
What changed
The past three months (February-April 2026) in Italy have continued a trend of significantly warmer-than-average conditions, with the country experiencing its 6th warmest such period on record. This aligns with a broader pattern across Europe, where the group mean anomaly for the latest month was +2.48°C, and for the three-month period was +2.41°C. Italy's latest monthly anomaly of +2.11°C placed it 88th out of 234 regions globally, indicating widespread warmth. Central Italy has also shown signs of recovery from a prolonged drought due to increased rainfall in the early months of 2026, with January recording an extraordinary rainfall anomaly of +132% compared to the 1991–2020 average.
What’s driving change?
The persistent warmth in Italy is largely influenced by the broader trend of land warming faster than ocean, and the , where higher-latitude regions tend to warm more quickly. The current ENSO state is Neutral, with a weekly Niño 3.4 SST anomaly of +0.9°C. However, forecasts indicate a strong likelihood of El Niño developing in the coming months, with an 82% chance for May-July and a 98% chance for August-October. Historically, El Niño phases during summer (June-August) typically bring warmer and drier conditions to the Mediterranean, amplifying the risk of heatwaves and wildfires. Indeed, Italy experienced its first heatwave of the year in late May, with temperatures reaching up to 34°C, and the wildfire season in the south started more than a month earlier than usual. In late April, a large wildfire in Tuscany, driven by strong winds, forced the evacuation of thousands of residents. Earlier in the year, Italy was also affected by severe weather, including heavy rainfall, floods, and landslides in southern regions in January and March, and snowstorms in central and southern Italy in late March and early April. For more information on extreme weather events, visit Extreme Weather tracker.
Looking ahead
Seasonal forecasts suggest that the evolving El Niño phase will likely contribute to a hotter and drier summer for Italy and across southern Europe in the coming months.
Sources:
Generated by Gemini from climate data and web sources
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Data Sources
Data Sources for Italy
Every figure on this page is sourced from official, openly published climate datasets. Anomalies are calculated against the 1961–1990 baseline (temperature) and 1991–2020 (rainfall, sunshine, frost) — see the Methodology & Sources page for the complete dataset list and update calendar.
FAQs
FAQs
How is the climate in Italy changing?
Italy is warming in line with the rest of the world. The page above shows the latest monthly temperature anomaly versus the 1961-1990 baseline, the long-term annual trend, and the region's rank in the historical record. The trend rate is shown as °C per decade in the headline panel; you can also see the warmest and coolest years on file.
Where does the climate data for Italy come from?
Climate data for Italy comes from Our World in Data, sourcing Copernicus ERA5 and HadCRUT5 (national temperature anomaly) and the Global Carbon Project via Our World in Data (CO₂ emissions), refreshed every month, when the upstream temperature and rainfall data are refreshed.
What is the climate baseline used on this page?
Anomalies on this page are calculated against the 1961-1990 climatological baseline, which is the standard reference period used by the Met Office, NOAA, IPCC and most national climate services. Some panels also show the source-native 1901-2000 (NOAA) or 1991-2020 (WMO) baselines for verification. See Methodology & Sources for the full reference.
Which areas does the Italy climate data cover?
The Italy climate profile covers Rome, Milan, Naples, Turin and surrounding areas. Temperature, rainfall and emissions data for Italy
How often is the Italy climate update refreshed?
The Italy climate update is refreshed monthly, typically a few days after the previous month closes and the upstream provider (Met Office HadUK-Grid, NOAA Climate at a Glance, Copernicus ERA5 or the Global Carbon Project) publishes its update. See the Climate Rankings for cross-region comparisons.