Bubbling in the heat

In Rome, the asphalt has become soft and mushy at our feet. Parked motorini are tipping over in the swelter, and I am starting to mutter obsenities at the harmless puffy clouds overhead. We haven't had a drop of precipitation in weeks and weeks. Brush fires are breaking out across the tinder box that is Central Italy. Meanwhile, much of England is under water and the north of Europe is cool, grey and sodden, thanks to man-made climatic changing forces.

Back in Rome, I check the 5-day forecast (coutesy of the BBC). It never changes: