Snow, rain, hail and high winds continued to lash Italy Tuesday as an unusually mild winter turned round and delivered a vicious kick a day before the official start of spring.
Snow fell everywhere at unusually low altitudes - even sprinkling the top of Vesuvius, an exceptional event at this time of year.
Elsewhere, the situation was less picturesque.
The sting in winter's tail threatened to wreak millions of euros of damage to crops that had come out early in recent balmy days.
Snow fell heavily across the Alps and Dolomites for the second day running Tuesday but the brunt of the weather front moved down through central parts as far as the heel of the Italian boot, with most cities hit by rain, hail and gales and most coasts battered by angry seas.
In Tuscany, wind and rain whipped Florence and Siena and kept all but the boldest tourists from venturing out of their hotels.
To the east, even the Umbrian hills got a rare taste of snow while gales brought down railway power lines, stopping trains from Rome to Ancona.
In Perugia, the Umbrian capital, temperatures fell as low as three degrees Celsius from 20 C two days ago.
In Rome, tourists scurried for cover from strong winds while gales toppled advertising hoardings and bent road signs around Naples.
Winds of 20 knots and above grounded flights and prevented landings at Rome's Fiumicino airport where delays began to stretch close to the hour mark.
Ferries to Ischia and Capri cowered in port while sea links to Elba and Sardinia were also affected.
Rough seas and 50 km/h winds also raged around Sicily, blocking ferries to Lampedusa and other islands.
There were heavy snowfalls on roads and highways across Calabria and the use of snow tyres was recommended in higher spots.
Meanwhile, back in the far north-east, as much as 110cm of snow had piled up in Friuli where an avalanche alert was put out.
This week's harsh weather has swept down out of the Balkans, hitting east-central Europe hard.
