Danes in Italy brace for severe storms with giant hail

Danes on summer holiday in northern Italy are preparing for severe storms expected to bring lightning, thunder, and giant hail, according to a report by Danish broadcaster DR.

The warning covers several provinces, including the area around Lake Garda, a popular destination for Danish tourists.

Christina Kuhlmann, staying at a campsite in Lido Di Spina, described the atmosphere as tense. “It’s extremely oppressive, and people are very, very nervous—which is completely understandable when you think about what happened in 2023,” she said.

In 2023, a violent storm hit the same region, with large hailstones damaging numerous cars. Authorities now warn of a renewed risk of hail powerful enough to shatter windows and dent vehicles.

Insurance companies advise parking cars under shelter or covering them with blankets, mattresses, or air mattresses. Dan Linding, camping with his family in Lazise at the southern end of Lake Garda, has taken precautions. “All the tourists are taping up their caravans with air mattresses and doing everything they can to avoid shattered windows. We’ve parked our car under the awning,” he told DR’s P1 radio.

Linding recalled friends who experienced the 2023 storm firsthand. “Their car was destroyed, and their caravan was a total write-off,” he said.

Freja Davidsen and her three friends, vacationing in Dervio near Lake Como, have covered their car with towels in anticipation of hail. They reported heavy rain in the area by afternoon.

Nicolai Thomsen, staying in Monte Baldo on the eastern shore of Lake Garda, could not find an underground parking garage and instead left his car under a tree. “We’re trying to protect it as much as possible. If those huge hailstones come, maybe the trees will take the worst of it,” he said.

Both Thomsen and Linding noted that tourists appear more anxious than local Italians. “They’re not as nervous as we are. Maybe the locals are just used to this kind of weather,” Thomsen said.