Rome opens cinemas and libraries as heat refuges during heatwave

Rome officials said air-conditioned cinemas will offer free places to help residents cope with an intense summer heatwave. The scheme will turn 11 cinemas and 11 libraries into climate refuges until August 4. Organisers will offer free places for 10 Italian films, with each film shown twice a day, and participating libraries will offer water to visitors.

Massimiliano Smeriglio, Rome's councillor for culture, said climate change affects people's lives, health, social interactions and ability to carry out activities during the hottest hours and days. He said the project aims to create places where people can also reduce isolation caused by being unable to stay outdoors.

An ISTAT report published last month said Rome's average temperatures have risen by three degrees Celsius since the 1980s, compared with about two degrees Celsius in other European capitals.

The heatwave has also affected Sicily, where firefighters were battling several wildfires after temperatures reached 40C. One fire in the centre of the island forced the evacuation of about 100 residents around Castronovo and Santo Stefano Quisquina and 22 patients from a clinic. Firefighters said they had recorded 1,000 wildfires across Sicily since Saturday.

A civil protection spokesman said the situation was serious and that high temperatures and lack of rain had helped the fires spread. The World Meteorological Organization says a temperature of 48.8C recorded near Syracuse in August 2021 is the record high for continental Europe.