A violent hailstorm accompanied by high winds and heavy rain in the north-east Italian province of Trentino has reportedly caused damage to the area's horticultural production, including apples approaching maturation.
According to reports, the storm saw large hailstones - some described as 'the size of tennis balls - fall for around half an hour in the area around Riva del Garda, Basso Sarca, Monte Baldo, Valle dei Laghi and Vallagarina.
The heaviest damage was apparently sustained to the south of Trento itself, particularly in the Gresta valley and around Vallagarina, near Mori, where windows were broken and fields and cars struck.
Initial assessments suggest the damage to fruit crops ranges from 20 per cent to 90 per cent along a large swathe of the River Adige.
As well as being a major area for fresh apple production – much of it sold on the domestic market, Trentino also produces one of Italy's most important wine grape harvests.
Provincial agriculture minister Tiziano Mellarini commented: 'I cannot recall such a serious, far-reaching event. In just a few hours the apple and grape harvests have been compromised.'
He said the provincial authorities would assess the damage in the coming days and ask the European Commission to delcare a state of emergency.
Other key apple production areas to the north of Trento, meanwhile, including the Val di Non, are understood not to have been affected by the adverse conditions.
Melinda, Italy's largest domestic apple supplier, which is based in nearby Cles, centres much of its apple production around the Val di Non and the Valli del Noce even further north.
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