Flights to and from Florence airport were suspended on Tuesday because of smoke from an extensive wildfire in the nearby towns of Lastra and Signa, Tuscany Governor Eugenio Giani said via Telegram.
The governor said a large team has been dispatched to fight the fire. It looks like Italy is on track to set a record for the number of wildfires this year. The severe drought Italy is enduring and a series of heat waves have created conditions that make it easier for fires to spread farther and faster.
Italian firefighters conducted 32,921 operations to combat blazes involving forests and vegetation between June 15 and July 21, 4,040 more than in the same period last year, according to data released on Friday.
Drought and heat waves are among the extreme weather events that scientists say are becoming more frequent and more intense due to climate change caused from human activity.
