CANALS IN VENICE SHOW DROUGHT STRAIN

As if last year’s drought in Italy wasn’t bad enough, this winter was an exceptionally dry one as well with little rain and snowfall.

This has prompted the country to declare a state of emergency relating to agricultural areas surrounding the river Po. The river is Italy’s longest river and runs from the Alps to the Adriatic. It currently has just a third of the water it normally has for this time of the year.

Venice is a city usually accustomed to floods and rising water levels, but now it’s faced with exposed canals due to a lack of rain, a high-pressure system, a full moon and unusual sea currents.

With the Alps receiving less than half their normal amount of snowfall and water levels on Lake Garda reaching record lows, the lake’s small island of San Biagio could show its exposed pathway for the first time in many years.

Sky News reports that an anticyclone has been dominating the weather in western Europe for the last few days, bringing mild temperatures more normally seen in late spring.

Although forecasters are expecting rain and snow in the Alps in the coming days, it probably won’t be enough to increase water levels across the country to where it usually is during this time of the year.

Image credit: Sky News