May weather extremes in Italy

June 4, 2008

We spent the last week of May 2008 in Tuscany and Umbria in Italy. I’d expect the average temperature at that time of year to be in the mid to low 20 degrees celsius with the odd shower or period of rain. Instead for the first few days the temperature was into the mid 30s. Then there was a day with thunderstorms, torrential rain and hailstones (which were more like chips off a block of ice) where the temperature dropped to 14 degrees, followed by a cool day of almost constant rain.

Downpour in Gubbio

We were caught in a torrential downpour during a thunder storm in Gubbio where there streets were temporarily turned into rivers. All the street lights came on due, tricked into thinking it was dusk by the low light.

We were touring around Tuscany and Umbria by car and only had a few hours at each location. I’m hopeless in hot weather and with all the slopes in the hill top villages and towns walking around was tiring and sticky. I was forever seeking shade and not concentrating on taking photos and notes. On the wet days you couldn’t get a decent photo or walk around to explore. It was difficult to sleep at night because of the heat. I wasn’t keen to have air conditioning on all night. One day in Perugia we decided to stay around the hotel room and pool during the day as it was just too hot and visit Perugia in the evening when it was a bit cooler.

View to Perugia from the hotel pool

I’m sure that I would have enjoyed the trip more and had a better selection of photos and more expansive notes in pleasantly warm, dry weather. I would avoid visiting southern Europe during Summer when I’d expect the weather to be too hot for me, Have any of your recent trips been affected by unexpected weather?

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