Italy is heading into what forecasters warn will be the hottest weekend yet this summer, as the health ministry put 19 cities and regional capitals on red alert for extreme heat. Cities including Milan, Rome, Florence and Bologna were expected to reach 39-40C, with the centre-north hit hard again by the latest heatwave. Campobasso, Perugia and Rieti were already under the health ministry’s maximum red alert on Thursday, with 16 other cities and provincial capitals on the second-highest orange alert, including Bolzano, Florence, Rome, Turin and Milan. Seven more join the red alert list on Friday: Bolzano, Civitavecchia, Florence, Frosinone, Latina, Rome, Turin and Viterbo. READ ALSO: The heatwave vocabulary you need to follow an Italian weather forecastThis was the fourth heatwave to hit Italy since the end of May, he confirmed.