(ANSA) - After enjoying a very mild autumn, Italy this week finds itself in the grips of a chilly preview of the winter to come.
Temperatures began dropping at the weekend and snow soon followed after the peninsula got caught between a cold front from the north and damp air rising from the south. Central-southern regions were the hardest hit by the wintry weather on Wednesday with schools closed in cities like Potenza where up to 30cm of snow fell during the night.
Snow made a mess of traffic along the A3 Salerno-Reggio Calabria motorway where traffic is blocked in some places due
to accidents and only vehicles with chains are allowed to travel where traffic si moving.
Rail service in southern Italy also fell victim to the snow and wind after trees fell over tracks along the Potenza to Foggia rail line.
Traffic was regular in the central region of Umbria, where there was ample snow during the night even at lower altitudes.
Some 60cm of snow accumulated in the Montefeltro area of the Marche region and chains are obligatory in the mountains there.
Chains are also necessary in the mountains of the Emilia-Romagna region and snow fell Wednesday morning in Bologna.
Further north, snow was reported around Milan, while the northeast Friuli-Venezia Giulia region was hit by the bone-chilling Bora north wind which gusted up to 117kph in Trieste.
