Italian Alps melt in heatwave

Glaciers have receded more than usual this summer

By David Willey in Rome

Unusually hot summer weather is melting alpine glaciers in Italy and causing numerous forest and brush fires in the rest of the country, including the island of Sicily.

Temperatures up to 38C and high humidity is forecast to continue for several more days.

More than 7,000 forest and brush fires have been reported so far during August alone - 20% more than last year.

Many fires are believed to have been set by arsonists who hope to profit from the development of land that has been burned.

Glaciers melting

The government has recently announced new legislation which will enable the courts to hand down long prison terms and heavy fines for crimes of arson.

In the Italian Alps many glaciers are receding at a rate which exceeds that of the normal summer melting period.

One mountain, the Marmolada, shed two metres of ice in only two days, revealing signs of an often talked about but never seen before nest of bunkers, barracks and storage areas built by Austro-Hungarian troops during World War I.

The body of an Italian soldier killed during heavy mountain fighting more than 80 years ago has been found by hikers at an altitude of 2,700m.

The body had been partly preserved by glacial ice.

Fortifications built by the Italian army facing an onslaught from Austria have also been uncovered by melting snow, luring tourists hunting for war souvenirs to the area.

Summer skiing has been banned in some parts of the Italian Alps because of the risk of avalanches.