Winter returns to Italy, with snow blanketing Mount Vesuvius

Winter returned to parts of Italy at the weekend. On Mount Vesuvius, for example, snow fell on Saturday, and the volcano near Naples in the south of the country, which is around 1,280 metres high, was blanketed in a layer of white.
It also snowed in other parts of the country, for example in places popular with tourists such as Cinque Terre in Liguria or the holiday island of Sardinia.
In addition, there were strong winds and thunderstorms, especially in central and southern Italy.
During a sudden thunderstorm in Rome, lightning struck a tree in the Villa Borghese park. The tree fell and hit two women; one of them was seriously injured and taken to hospital.