Climate and hazards
Humid continental plain: fog and frost in winter, mugginess and thunderstorms in summer; breezier Adriatic coast; Apennines with snow. High PM10 in the plain (Po basin). Floods in 2023 and 2024 (Romagna and the Bologna area); Emilia earthquake of 2012; subsidence and coastal erosion.
Sections: Seasons · Rainfall · Temperatures · Air quality · Environmental hazards
Plain, coast, Apennines
The Emilian plain has cold foggy winters with frequent thermal inversions and very hot muggy summers with intense thunderstorms and hail; Bologna and Ferrara are among the hottest northern cities in July. The Romagna coast is a little breezier, with summer breezes and damp winters. The Apennines (Cimone, Corno alle Scale, Cerreto) have snow from December to March with small ski resorts; the hills of Parma, Reggio and Modena have an intermediate climate suited to vines.
Air quality
The Emilian plain is part of the Po basin and shares its winter PM10 problem: in 2024, according to SNPA, the large majority of Italian stations above the 35-day limit were in the Po basin, with Modena, Reggio Emilia, Parma, Piacenza, Ferrara and Bologna among the cities affected. From October to March the Region applies anti-smog measures coordinated with the other Po valley regions (limits on older diesels, car-free Sundays, heating limits); Arpae publishes the daily bulletin.
Floods and seismicity
The floods of May 2023 (Faenza, Forlì, Cesena, Ravenna, the Bologna hills) and September 2024 hit Romagna with dozens of rivers overflowing and thousands evacuated; on 19–20 October 2024 a new storm hit Bologna above all, with the Ravone stream flooding the city; the Romagna and Bologna Apennines are prone to landslides. The Emilia earthquake of May 2012 (Finale Emilia, Mirandola, Cavezzo) showed that the plain is seismic too: the provinces of Modena, Ferrara and Reggio are in zone 3, the Forlì and Rimini Apennines in zone 2. The coast suffers subsidence and erosion, with seawater intrusion during storms.
Missing: temp_jan_avg, temp_jul_avg, rain_days_year, air_pm10_days_over_limit
Sources
Updated: 2026-10-14
Updated: 2026-10-14
Updated: 2026-10-14
Updated: 2026-10-14
Updated: 2026-10-14
Updated: 2026-10-14
Reviewed: 10/23/2026 · by piero.avolio · rev. 1 · Period: → 2027-10-31
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