(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 22 - A high-pressure area will bring mild and sunny weather to Italy in this start to Spring in the Bel Paese with almost summery temperatures in Sicily but an intense storm system will arrive from the Atlantic between Sunday and Monday bringing extensive rain but leapfrogging, again, the drought-hit northwest, weatherman Lorenzo Tedici of the site www.iLMeteo.it said Wednesday, noting on World Water Day that "Italy's very serious drought will continue".
    "Precipitation will arrive starting from Sunday in the Alps with some snowfall above 1,200 metres," he said.
    "The rainy phenomena will be ephemeral in the north and they will move immediately towards the centre and south where, on the other hand, there will be an overload of bad weather.
    "Between Monday and Tuesday we will return for a while into the (wintry) season which we have just left, and winter will hit the Adriatic seaboard with snowfall up to 500-700 metres and a temperature collapse of at least 10 degrees between Monday and Wednesday.
    "The passage of bad weather should be quite fast albeit leaving a few showers in the southern Adriatic for a few hours, but in general Spring will then return".
    Detailed forecast: Wednesday. North: local fog, clear or slightly cloudy skies with Spring conditions. Centre: sunny with some slight cloud cover. South: Scattered cloud.
    Thursday. North: fine weather apart from drizzle in Liguria, Centre: sunny except for maritime clouds in Tuscany. South: sunny and warmer.
    Friday. North: rain in the Alps, sunny elsewhere. Centre: sunny, scattered clouds in Tuscany. South: sunny, and even hotter.
    Outlook: Spring-like conditions, rare showers apart from in the Alps and Liguria; summery heat in Sicily with highs of 26-28°C at the weekend, while conditions will worsen in the centre and north from Sunday. (ANSA).