Italy grants water rationing powers to 40 mayors to tackle summer drought

ROME, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Italy has authorized 40 northern towns to ration water supplies as Europe prepares for a second consecutive year of severe drought.

The European Drought Observatory has reported dangerously dry conditions this month across most of Europe's western Mediterranean coast, northern Italy, France, and into Spain and Portugal. Parts of Britain, Germany, Ireland, and Switzerland have also suff