- Parts of Italy are experiencing unusually heavy rain, flooding, and hailstorms.
- Tourists who expected sunshine are sharing dramatic videos of rain and hail pummeling the ground.
Parts of Italy are experiencing a deluge of storms, surprising tourists who expected warm weather.
Dramatic TikTok videos taken in Florence and the Amalfi Coast show hail pummeling the ground and rainwater gushing down stairways. The country's northern cities have also fallen victim to severe weather.
"Go to Italy in May they said..." TikTok user @lilsmackett wrote on a video showing a hailstorm in Florence, which was posted on Monday.
@lilsmackett no regrets… #italy #italyweather #travel ♬ suono originale - Lyrics.italia
In the video's comment section, Italians said the weather is not typical for May.
"I'm so so sorry you caught the worst May we like ever had," wrote user @denise_dionysus. "Last year May 16 we were at the beach."
On Sunday, TikTok user @soniaaholland posted a video of a heavy rainstorm during her vacation to the Amalfi Coast.
"It's my first time in Italy, and from what I had heard, May was a beautiful month to go to Italy weather-wise," Holland told Insider. "I've met so many local Italians who have said that they've never even experienced a May like this before."
@soniaaholland No regrets though ❤️ #amalficoast #italyweather #italytok #italysummer2023 ♬ suono originale - Lyrics.italia
And another user, @kerrycarson, shared a dramatic video of rainwater gushing down a stairway in Positano on Sunday.
"That is the way up to our hotel," Carson said, indicating the steps.
@kerrycarson Positano in the rain #positano #amalficoast #italy #rain ♬ Funny Song - Cavendish Music
While temperatures vary depending on location, May in Italy is generally warm, according to ItalyExplained.com, a travel blog focused on Italy.
"It's not typically as blisteringly hot and humid as Italy can be later in the summer, but that kind of weather is also not out of the question in May," the website said.
But May 2023 is proving to be exceptional. According to Weather.com, there was a 90 percent chance of rain in Florence on Tuesday, with the daytime temperature reaching a high of 62 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 17 degrees Celsius.
TikToker Kacie Rose, who lives in Florence, explained the city's weather is often unpredictable — still, she described this week's temperature and hailstorm as "very strange for May."
@kacierose4 Replying to @KarlaB dont let it get you down before your trip has even started - youre still in italy ♥️ #lifeinitaly #italyweather ♬ original sound - Kacie Rose
"I totally understand the feelings of disappointment and sadness that this wasn't the vacation that you were maybe hoping for," Rose said, adding: "But also remember that Italy can be very beautiful and very peaceful in the rain too!"
But disappointing vacations are the least of the issues caused by the country's severe weather.
Extreme flooding in recent days has disrupted daily life in the north, with more rain expected, according to meteorologists. According to the Associated Press, schools closed in areas that are projected to flood, and train travel was suspended on multiple lines in the north. Rescue crews have helped dozens of people stranded in flooded areas in Rimini and Emilia-Romagna, the AP reported.
Earlier in May, a particularly heavy rainstorm killed two people in the Emilia-Romagna region when previously dry riverbeds overflowed with rain.