Digested week: Italians escape the heat amid shock of Bayesian disaster

Monday

Another summer of relentless heat, and so, like most wise Italians, I opted to join the traditional August exodus from the sweltering city. So for a few days I’ve decamped from Rome to Marta, a picturesque fishing village on the shores of Lake Bolsena in the north of Lazio. I jumped at the offer of taking care of two cats, although the real motive was to be able to finish the day cooling off in the lake.

Most Italians holiday in August, either before or after the 15th, when the beloved Ferragosto is marked. This national day off is as important as Christmas.

The weather is always a talking point around this period because, for reasons as yet unexplained by science, it is usually when the summer begins to break and the first chill of autumn is felt.

In more recent years, that sudden drop in temperature has become more stark, bringing with it violent storms, and sometimes tragedy. Watching the rain pounding down on the lake on Sunday, my mind was cast back to 14 August 2018, when the Morandi bridge in Genoa collapsed amid a torrential downpour , killing 43 people.

On Monday Italy awoke to the news of a freak storm that sank a superyacht off the coast of Sicily. Witnesses described powerful winds that wreaked havoc on the shoreline of Porticello, where the yacht, Bayesian, had been moored just a few hundred metres away. One person was confirmed to have died and by early afternoon, it emerged that Mike Lynch , a British tech entrepreneur, was among the 22 passengers.

Tuesday

The morning regulars at Bar del Turista in Marta’s small square are discussing trombe d’arie (tornadoes). The last one they recalled occurring on Lake Bolsena was in June 2023, although lake and sea tornadoes in Italy have increased in frequency over the last 10 to 15 years.

As rescuers searched for the six people missing, scientists turned their thoughts to how the climate crisis played a role in the Bayesian disaster. The boat was struck by a powerful tornadic waterspout, a whirling column of air and water mist that has the same characteristics as a land tornado. Scientists said that the record-breaking 30C temperatures in the Mediterranean sea this summer would have fuelled the waterspout.

Italy has become known by scientists as one of Europe’s climate risk hotspots owing to a range of vulnerabilities including its geographical location, diverse topography and densely inhabited Mediterranean coastal areas.

Luca Mercalli, the president of the Italian Meteorological Society, and noted for having stormed off TV debates after becoming frustrated by climate crisis deniers, has no faith in the capacity of governments to tackle the crisis.

“We’re going backwards,” he said on Tuesday. “In Italy and elsewhere. It’s always more difficult to get the message across. Let’s see what happens in the US. If [Donald] Trump wins, we can forget about the issue for the next four years.”

Wednesday

The day began with specialist divers continuing their extremely challenging search for the six people missing in the Bayesian tragedy. The yacht was lying on its side at a depth of about 50 metres. There was a sliver hope that air-pockets were keeping the missing passengers alive, but by the end of the day the deaths of five people were confirmed.

Elsewhere in Italy, it is relatively quiet. The prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has been on holiday in Puglia with her daughter, former boyfriend and other family members, staying at a luxury resort called Masseria Beneficio. The holiday was briefly interrupted by a visit from the deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini. The topic of discussion was the Italian candidate for EU commissioner, who must be presented to the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, by 30 August. Raffaele Fitto, Italy’s current European affairs minister, is the favourite for the job.

Italian newspapers noted the absence of the joint deputy prime minister, Antonio Tajani, at the meeting, generating rumours of a rift in the ruling coalition over the thorny topic of ius soli – granting citizenship at birth to those born in Italy to foreign parents. Tajani’s Forza Italia has come out in support of the idea amid a debate triggered after a racist attack last week on a mural of the Italian Olympic volleyball gold medal winner Paola Egonu.

Salvini then travelled to a trade show in Rimini, where he posed for selfies, declared that ius soli was not on the government’s agenda and donned a pair of goggles for a virtual reality trip across a bridge connecting the Italian mainland to Sicily that he has long dreamed about building.

Thursday

The respite from the heat was fleeting, with temperatures creeping to highs of 37C. It’s day four of reading the newspapers over coffee at Bar del Turista, and by now they serve my order – a cappuccino – without me needing to ask. Some of the regulars ask if they can borrow my newspapers. The leading story is the latest on Bayesian. “A terrible tragedy,” says one.

Divers resumed their search early in the morning and by midday it was confirmed that the fifth body found was that of Mike Lynch. They were still searching for his daughter, Hannah.

Lots of questions are being asked, such as how such a resilient superyacht sank when another one close by was unscathed, and whether more could have been done by the crew to mitigate against the forecast storm.

Among those gathered at the bar was a couple from the Netherlands. A big theme in Italy over the last few summers has been overtourism. But while everyone is flocking to the likes of Rome, Florence, Venice, the Amalfi coast or Cinque Terre, businesses in Marta say they are not getting enough. Not too far away in Viterbo, a city known as “the city of popes” because of its time as a papal city in the 13th century, there is an all-out row over under-tourism. Some blame it on a patchy calendar of events, others the scrappy rail connections from Rome. Or it could be the heat, and people opting more for the coast, mountains or even staying home. “They have less money to spend,” said the owner of Bar del Turista.

Friday

As divers resumed their search on Friday morning for the last victim of the Bayesian disaster, Hannah Lynch, Italian newspapers reported that the investigation into the shipwreck was focusing on an “alleged chain of human errors”. Until now, prosecutors, who have questioned the boat’s captain, James Cutfield, have been tight-lipped. A press conference was planned on Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, the row over ius soli within the government coalition is heating up. Tajani was pictured holding a child from Zambia, who he told reporters he had brought to Italy because he’s assisting the child’s parents with her adoption. He said that being Italian doesn’t mean you have to have links going back generations.

Let’s see how this scrap plays out when the politics resumes after the summer break.