This winter has been the hottest in Italy in at least 200 years, Italy's National Research Council (CNR) confirmed on Monday.
The 'winter that wasn't' was already over in February when plants began budding and blossoms blooming a good month a ahead of normal.
According to the CNR institute for atmospheric sciences, the average temperature this winter has been 1.79°C higher than the previous hottest winter on record, 1990.
This past weekend saw temperature lows of 18°C in both the northeastern mountain city of Bolzano city and Palermo, while the thermometer never went below 20°C in Florence and Catania.
"For the first time ever, farmers around Rome are harvesting fava beans which usually do not mature until the end of spring and markets in the capital are already flush with such crops as peas, artichokes, tomatoes and all kinds of salad greens," observed the national farmers' union Coldiretti.
One of the reasons for the exceptionally warm winter was that Atlantic wind currents this year changed direction and did not usher in cold fronts from the northeast, which would have brought in chilly Arctic air from Siberia and Scandinavia.
Even the famous 'Tramontana' north wind suffered from the quirky winter weather, blowing 30% below normal.
The unusual winter also disrupted the slumber of bears in the Abruzzo National Park. They never went into hibernation.
Experts agree that the main consequence of the hot winter has been a sharp drop in precipitation which is sure to cause problems this summer.
This past autumn and winter, the CNR pointed out, there has been an over-25% drop in rain and snow was a no-show for many of Italy's ski resports. Last week, Industry Minister Pierluigi Bersani said that preparations were already being made for a potential summer power crisis brought on by excessive high temperatures and a low level of water in rivers which run generators.
When asked if Italy risked power blackouts, the minister said "we will try to avoid them. We are studying a number of measures to compensate for the lack of water both for the generation of electricity and the cooling of power plants".
Earlier in the week an expert warned that there was "no chance" for Italy's biggest river, the Po, to return to normal levels before the summer.
"Even with the best forecasts for rain it will be impossible for the river to make up for its lack of water," observed Stefano Tibaldi of the Emilia Romagna regional environmental agency.
