The government has warned that Italy risks a drastic shortage of water, coupled with possible power blackouts, during the coming months. Following a mild winter with little rainfall, rivers and lakes are already severely depleted, the current unseasonably high temperatures and the scorching summer that the majority of climatologists predict, may overtax water-run generators.

Particularly worrying is the situation in northern Italy, where the level of the river Po has sunk to a dangerous 83cm. According to Terna, the company that manages electrical transmission on a national basis, Italy