Snow on the Apennines along with heavy rain and strong winds over much of the peninsula gave Italians their first taste of winter on Wednesday.
Snowploughs and salt-spreaders were at work in the morning on roads around Arezzo in Tuscany and in Emilia Romagna police advised motorists to put chains on their tyres when using the Mandrioli Pass through the mountains.
Night-time temperatures dropped to below zero in Turin, Bolzano and many other northern towns as a cold front from the North Atlantic moved slowly across the Italian boot.
Temperatures also dropped sharply in central and southern Italy as wind and rain swept across areas which had recently enjoyed afternoon temperatures as high as 20 degrees Celsius.
Storms and 30-knot winds over the lower Tyrrhenian Sea upset ferry connections between Sicily and the islands.
Civil Protection officials have warned that the bad weather will last for at least 36 hours and urged motorists to drive with extra care, especially at night and in upland areas.
Some of the coldest temperatures in the night between Tuesday and Wednesday were recorded in the northwestern Valle d'Aosta region, where there were storms in the Alps near Mont Blanc and the French border.
At Punta Hellbronner near the Courmayeur ski resort the temperature recorded during the night was -16 degrees.
