Shortly after 13pm today a storm, also accompanied by hail, hit Florence, creating flooding in the streets. "We are following developments carefully and constantly in connection with the Civil Protection of the Municipality, the fire brigade and the municipal police. Avoid transits from underpasses and pay close attention to the outside," Mayor Dario Nardella wrote on Twitter.

Two vans were stuck submerged in water in the railway underpass in Via Lanzi, which quickly filled up due to the storm. The firefighters of the diving unit intervened on the spot. At the moment there are no injured people.

Hail covered the avenues around the Fortezza da Basso with a white blanket. In one hour the rain gauge station of Florence-University recorded 35 mm of rain, 17.8 mm at the Botanical Garden, 8.8 mm at the Boboli Gardens.

Flooding of basements was reported by firefighters in a large part of Florence, both in the historic center and in the eastern and southern part of the city after the strong storm that manifested itself on the avenues in the form of hail, whitening the asphalt surface in a homogeneous way.

The metropolitan civil protection reconstructs that, in particular, the center of Florence was affected "by rains with very strong punctual intensity, associated with hail, after one o'clock on Friday 12 May and for about an hour. The phenomenon has been particularly localized."

"This type of phenomena will be possible throughout the day today throughout the metropolitan area", reports the Florentine civil protection, recommending "maximum caution, especially during outdoor activities and driving".