1 firefighter dead, 3 plane passengers missing as storms batter Italy

The body of a firefighter was found on Wednesday in southern Italy after the vehicle he was driving was swept away by a flash flood on Tuesday, authorities have announced, reported Xinhua.

It is the latest in a series of tragedies connected to ongoing extreme weather in Italy.

Meanwhile, a small private airplane headed to France from Modena in north-central Italy was lost in intense fog over the Apennine Mountains on Wednesday, according to news reports. Officials are searching on land and via helicopter for the aircraft and its three passengers, although a lack of visibility is making operations difficult.

Storm Boris, the intense weather pattern that has left at least 21 people dead and forced thousands to evacuate amid thunderstorms, snowstorms, and flooding in Central Europe, is now heading across the Adriatic Sea. It is set to hit central Italy on Thursday.

Much of eastern Italy -- mostly the central regions of Emilia Romagna and Le Marche, but also parts of Umbria, Lazio, and Abruzzo -- was under severe weather alerts as of Wednesday.

The meteorological monitoring site Il Meteo said the latest bout of severe weather would only last until Friday, with milder weather due in most of the country over the weekend.

However, while the northern and central parts of the country are bracing for more storms and possible flooding, much of the south remains in the grip of a drought that started in June. The Italian Island regions of Sicily and Sardinia, as well as Calabria at the tip of Italy's boot-shaped peninsula, have all declared local states of emergency due to lack of rain.

Italy has been increasingly hit by severe weather in recent years. This is the third consecutive year the country has suffered from record-setting heatwaves and droughts, with this year's national heatwave starting even before the official start of summer in June, and stretching into early September. The hot and dry weather has sparked widespread wildfires, water shortages, thunderstorms, hailstorms, and flash floods.