Italy has placed 25 of the nation’s 27 major cities on the highest red level alert for Monday, August 3rd, as the country’s fourth heatwave of the year continues.

The Italian health ministry provides regular heatwave bulletins using a four-level warning system.

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What do Italy's heat warning levels mean?

A red warning (level 3) is the highest alert level and indicates a heatwave emergency posing a serious health risk, even for young and healthy people.

Orange (level 2) indicates a medium risk, particularly for vulnerable people.

Yellow (level 1) provides advance warning that temperatures might rise in the following days.

Green (level 0) represents no significant risk.

For a full breakdown of Italy's heatwave alert level, read our coverage here or via the link below.

READ ALSO: What does Italy’s red level heatwave warning mean?

Which Italian cities are currently under red level heat alerts?

As of Monday August 3rd, the 25 cities on red alert (bollino rosso) in Italy are:

Ancona, Bari, Bolzano, Campobasso, Civitavecchia, Florence, Frosinone, Latina, Perugia, Rieti, Rome, Turin, Viterbo, Bologna, Brescia, Cagliari, Milan, Naples, Pescara, Venice, Verona, Catania, Genoa, Palermo and Trieste.

Messina in Sicily and Reggio Calabria in Calabria are the only major Italian cities on yellow heat alert on Monday morning.

Most of these cities were already on high alert throughout the weekend as the mercury rose.

Temperatures are expected to rise further in Trentino-Alto Adige, Lazio, Calabria, western Sardinia and central Lombardy, while the Italian civil protection issued a yellow alert for rain and possible storms in Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Molise, Sicily and Umbria.

What about wildfire and drought warnings?

Emilia-Romagna is also on orange level alert for wildfires from Monday, August 3rd to Sunday, August 9th, especially in the lowland, hill and coastal areas of the region.

At the same time, drought conditions in the Po basin continue to worsen, with more than 100 municipalities in Piedmont and Lombardy facing water shortages.

In many of them, residents are already relying on water tankers to ensure continued water supply.

Forecasters said the heatwave is expected to continue at least until August 8th and 9th.