Italy drought: Rome forced to cut water pressure at night.
It has hardly rained in Rome for months and, with Romans returning from their summer holidays, the city’s water company has decided to act.
From next week water pressure will be cut during the night on peak days in September.
Higher buildings could lose their supplies altogether.
Water company Acea says it has managed to plug 1,300 water leaks since May.
At one point the Vatican said it was turning off its 100 fountains.
But the water company was eventually allowed to continue using the lake when it promised to cut its withdrawals from 1,100 to 400 litres per second.
However, with the summer break coming to an end the effects of the drought are even worse than before.
Italy, like much of the rest of Southern Europe, has been hit by months of low rainfall.
But Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi won power promising to improve the city’s notorious transport, water and rubbish services, which have been plagued by corruption and lack of investment.