Milan closed its parks, cemeteries and open-air markets near trees on Friday due to the violent storms that are forecast to batter the northern region of Lombardy, Azernews reports, citing ANSA.

The arrival of Cyclone Circe is expected to bring storms with torrential rain and powerful winds to many parts of Italy. iLMeteo.it meteorologist Lorenzo Tedici said that temperatures were set to drop by at least 10° Celsius.

Italy was hit by a series of extraordinary heatwaves last month as well as waves of devastating storms.

In mid-May floods and landslides triggered by torrential rainfall left 15 people dead and caused billions of euros of damage to agriculture, the economy and infrastructure.

Scientists say the climate crisis caused by human greenhouse gas emissions is making extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts, supercharged storms, hailstorms, strong winds and flooding more frequent and more intense.