🇮🇹 Venice Climate Health Index

Monday, 21 September 2026 · updated 15:30 UTC · refreshes live through the day · LIVE

Modelled estimates · Medically reviewed guidance · Not an official warning service

^est. = index derived by Mobi Doctor's model from the weather inputs. All values are modelled estimates from European weather and atmospheric forecast systems (Open-Meteo · CAMS/Copernicus) — not direct readings from a monitoring station in this city, and not official public-health warnings.

The Climate Health Score for Venice today is 5.1/10 — high exposure on a 0–10 scale where 10 is extreme. It reflects the worst of ten live hazard readings for Venice — heat, UV, air quality, pollen, hydration demand, allergy, mosquito activity, fire weather, flu season and cold — and is recalculated through the day by Mobi Doctor's European Climate Health Index.

How heat behaves in Venice

Venice adds lagoon evaporation to Adriatic humidity, producing some of Italy's highest feels-like readings relative to air temperature. Sightseeing here is flat, exposed and largely shadeless at midday — visitor exposure time is the variable that matters most.

Venice has no cars, no shade trees to speak of, and no way to cross it except on foot over stone — a combination unique in Europe that turns every errand into exposure. The lagoon surrounds the city with an evaporating mirror: humidity stays high, light reflects from water and pale stone simultaneously, and the campi that funnel visitors — San Marco above all — are open paved basins. Residents are older than almost any Italian city average, living up steep internal stairs the heat climbs with them.

Heat and your health in Venice today

Feels-like maximum 28°C (air temperature 26°C) · tonight's minimum 19°C · humidity 64% · heat pillar score 2.3/10

Where today sits in Venice's year: the heat season here typically runs June to early September, humid lagoon heat, peaking mid-July to mid-August. Tropical nights in Venice: common in July and August — lagoon humidity keeps the stone city from cooling.

Heat stresses the body long before heatstroke. As the air temperature and humidity climb, your heart works harder to push blood to the skin for cooling, you lose fluid and electrolytes through sweat, and blood pressure can dip when you stand. That is why hot days bring more dizziness, fainting, migraines, kidney strain and falls — and studies of heatwave hospital admissions also report more urinary tract infections, thought to be linked to dehydration — not just classic heat exhaustion.

Night temperature matters as much as the daytime peak. When a night stays above 20°C — a tropical night — the cardiovascular system gets far less of its overnight recovery window — one reason heatwave mortality tracks hot nights more closely than hot afternoons. Tonight in Venice drops to around 19°C, which gives the body a proper recovery window.

Pollen count in Venice today

Leading species: Mugwort at ~4 grains/m³ · pollen score 1.6/10

Venice's pollen calendar: Plane March–April · grass April–June · modest olive traces in May. The live counts above show where today falls in that cycle.

Pollen allergy (hay fever) is triggered by different plants through the year: trees like birch and alder in spring, grasses in early summer, and weeds such as mugwort and ragweed from late July into autumn. Symptoms — sneezing, itchy eyes, a blocked nose, worsened asthma — flare when daily counts cross species-specific thresholds, and air pollution makes the same pollen load feel worse by priming the airways.

On high-count days: keep windows closed in the early morning and evening, shower and change after time outdoors, and start antihistamines before symptoms peak rather than after. If you use an asthma inhaler, keep it with you on high pollen days.

Allergy load in Venice today: pollen × air quality

Combined pollen-and-air allergy load 2.5/10 — pollen 1.6 amplified by air quality (EAQI 53) · estimated from live data

Venice's own pollen sources are modest — cypress and grass from parks and the mainland — but the lagoon's humid stillness holds what arrives, and Po-valley haze drifts across on stagnant days to do the priming. Parietaria works the brickwork all season.

Allergy risk is more than the pollen count. Exhaust particles damage the airway lining and prime the immune response, so the same grains provoke stronger symptoms on polluted days — and pollutant-stressed plants release more allergenic protein per grain. This combined score therefore reads pollen and air quality together: identical counts can feel very different on clean and dirty days, which is why it is tracked as its own pillar rather than folded into either input.

Today the combination is modest — sensitised people can treat this as a normal day, with the usual seasonal routine.

UV index in Venice today

Maximum UV index 4.3 · moderate on the WHO scale

Venice's strong-UV season: May to August — midday index 8, amplified by water glare.

UV radiation peaks between late morning and mid-afternoon and is invisible — it burns on cool, cloudy days too. At UV 8 and above, unprotected fair skin can burn in under 30 minutes. Repeated burns drive most skin-cancer risk, and some common medicines (certain antibiotics, diuretics, acne treatments) make skin dramatically more sun-sensitive.

Sun protection is low-priority today, but sunscreen remains sensible for extended time outdoors.

Air quality in Venice today

European AQI 53 · moderate (EAQI scale: 0 good → 100+ worst) · PM2.5 5.3 µg/m³ · ozone 113 µg/m³ · score 4.8/10

Venice's air carries the lagoon's paradox: no cars in the historic city, yet shipping, the Marghera industrial zone and mainland traffic drift across the water, and humid stagnant days hold that mix close to street level.

Fine particles (PM2.5) reach deep into the lungs and bloodstream; ozone forms in sunny, hot weather and irritates the airways — which is why heatwaves and smog often arrive together. People with asthma, COPD, heart disease, pregnant women and children feel the effects first: more wheeze, more inhaler use, more chest tightness.

Levels are acceptable for outdoor activity today for most people, including sensitive groups.

Fire weather around Venice today

Fire-weather score 1.2/10 — 26°C, 64% humidity, wind to 20 km/h · estimated (weather conduciveness, not active fires)

The lagoon city itself has almost nothing to burn; fire weather here is a mainland reading, tracking the dry Veneto plain and the occasional smoke that drifts from regional burns. Expect low scores outside serious continental drought.

This pillar scores how conducive the weather is to wildfire — heat, dry air and wind, the published Angström approach — not actual fires. Its health meaning is smoke: wildfire smoke is concentrated fine particulate that can travel hundreds of kilometres, and a smoke episode hits the same people hardest as any pollution spike — asthma, COPD, heart disease, pregnancy, young children and older adults.

Conditions are not notably fire-conducive today. If you see or smell smoke regardless, treat it like a pollution episode: head indoors, close the windows, and postpone outdoor exertion.

Hydration in Venice today

Hydration demand score 1.7/10 · estimated from live weather

Venice makes you a pedestrian in humid heat with bridge climbs built in: losses run marathon-support levels on an ordinary August sightseeing day, and the city's drinking fountains — every sestiere has them — are the intended refill points.

Fluid needs are not fixed — they scale with heat, humidity, dry air, UV and activity. Thirst lags behind need, especially in older adults, whose thirst signal weakens with age. Dark urine, headache, and light-headedness on standing are earlier and more reliable signals.

Today's guidance: Normal — drink to thirst; keep water with you on long outings.

Mosquito activity in Venice tonight

Mosquito activity score 5.1/10 — tonight around 19°C at 64% humidity · estimated from live weather (activity, not disease risk)

Mosquito season in Venice: May to October — lagoon-side dusk is prime tiger-mosquito time. The score above places tonight inside that season using live temperature and humidity.

Mosquitoes fly when nights are warm and humid enough — activity climbs steeply once evenings hold above about 15°C and peaks on still, muggy nights. Southern Europe adds the tiger mosquito, a day-biter now established across much of the Mediterranean, whose continued spread north ECDC tracks. In parts of southern and central Europe, late summer also brings limited local transmission of mosquito-borne infections such as West Nile virus — an activity score is not a disease-risk score, but high-activity weeks are when precautions earn their keep.

Practical: use a repellent containing DEET or icaridin at dusk, cover ankles and wrists outdoors in the evening, screen or close windows at night, and empty standing water on balconies weekly. Speak to a doctor about any fever that develops in the week after heavy bite exposure in an affected region.

Flu season in Venice: where today sits

Flu-season level 0.9/10 · seasonal climatology (ECDC winter pattern), not live case counts

Flu in Venice runs December to February, peaking in January — vaporetti and winter crowds do the mixing that streets do elsewhere. Summer sits at the floor. Autumn vaccination is standard advice for the city's notably older resident population.

Influenza in Europe is sharply seasonal: transmission runs low through summer, builds from late autumn as life moves indoors and cool, dry air favours the virus, then peaks between December and February in ECDC's surveillance pattern. This pillar follows that climatology — it tells you where the calendar sits, not this week's case counts, and we label it that way rather than dress a seasonal curve up as live surveillance.

What to do with it: the score rising through autumn is the cue that vaccination time has arrived — October to November gives antibodies time to build before the peak, and matters most for over-65s, pregnant women, young children and anyone with heart, lung, kidney or immune conditions. At today's low seasonal level, a summer fever is far more likely to be something other than flu — and worth a doctor's opinion if it lasts.

Cold stress in Venice: the other end of the index

Cold-stress score 0.0/10 — tonight's minimum around 19°C

Venetian winter is damp cold with acqua alta: fog off the lagoon, raw 0–5°C days, and flood season adding wet feet to the equation. Hard freezes are occasional, lagoon ice historic and rare. Stone housing holds the chill; heating is standard but the damp still penetrates.

Across Europe, cold claims more lives each year than heat — mostly quietly, through winter's extra heart attacks, strokes and respiratory infections rather than hypothermia. Cold air raises blood pressure and thickens blood within minutes, narrows airways, and stresses hearts hardest in the first snaps of the season, before bodies and habits adjust. Indoor cold in poorly heated homes does as much damage as the weather outside.

Cold is not a factor today — the score sits low, and this pillar will matter again when the season turns. It stays on the page year-round because an honest index needs both ends of the thermometer.

The Venice climate-health year

Venice's health year runs from winter fog and acqua alta to a summer defined by wet air: from June to early September the lagoon keeps feels-like readings well above the thermometer, and the stone city holds warm nights through the peak weeks. Grass and plane pollen pass through in spring; mosquitoes own the lagoon-side evenings from May. September softens gradually — often the finest month — before autumn returns the mists.

Typical seasonal patterns from established climatology — the live scores above always reflect today's actual conditions.

Visiting Venice? What travellers should know

Venice must be walked, so plan the walking: bridges add climb after climb, the San Marco–Rialto axis is airless by noon in July, and the vaporetto queues stand on exposed pontoons over reflecting water. Go early or go at dusk — the city at 07:00 is both cooler and emptier — and use the public fountains marked across the sestieri; they run cold and potable. Sunglasses matter doubly here: lagoon glare comes from below as well as above. In humid heat, plan one air-conditioned museum block per afternoon.

If you do get ill away from home, you don't have to navigate a foreign health system for something a consultation can solve: speak to a Mobi Doctor physician online from your hotel or apartment.

Medicines in Venice this week

Temperatures are currently inside normal storage ranges. Standard advice applies: keep medicines below 25°C, out of direct sun, and never in a parked vehicle.

Should I speak to a doctor about heat symptoms?

Heat illness escalates in stages, and the right response depends on which stage you're seeing. Use these three tiers:

Local numbers in Italy: 112 — EU-wide emergencies · 118 — ambulance · 116117 — GP out-of-hours (where active) · for non-urgent concerns, a Mobi Doctor physician is online in minutes.

General guidance, not a personal assessment — when in doubt, call. In an emergency always call 112.

Sources for the medical guidance

The clinical guidance on this page follows public authority sources:

Medication storage limits follow each product's manufacturer information (SmPC / patient leaflet) — always defer to the leaflet for your specific product, and to your prescriber for personal advice.

Frequently asked questions

Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Venice today?

Yes — heat is not a limiting factor today (heat score 2.3/10). Usual sun protection applies.

Do I need to worry about storing insulin or Ozempic in Venice this week?

Standard rules apply this week: unopened stock in the fridge at 2–8°C, in-use pens below 30°C away from direct sun.

Who is most at risk from today's conditions in Venice?

Today's Climate Health Score is 5.1/10 (High). Elderly: low · Children: low · Outdoor workers: low · Athletes: low. Led by mosquito activity at elevated levels — no extreme single hazard today.

Will tonight be a tropical night in Venice?

No — tonight drops to around 19°C, below the 20°C tropical-night threshold, giving the body a proper recovery window.

When is the heat season in Venice?

Typically June to early September, humid lagoon heat, peaking mid-July to mid-August. Common in July and August — lagoon humidity keeps the stone city from cooling. Today's score at the top of this page reflects live conditions, not the seasonal average.

When is pollen season in Venice?

Plane March–April · grass April–June · modest olive traces in May. This page tracks live counts for six species (alder, birch, grass, mugwort, olive and ragweed) and updates them through the day.

When is mosquito season in Venice?

May to October — lagoon-side dusk is prime tiger-mosquito time. The live mosquito-activity score on this page places tonight inside that season using temperature and humidity — it measures activity conditions, not disease risk.

Highest-risk cities in Europe today

All cities:

Venice score history — last 30 days

One point per day, refreshed by the daily rebuild. Full archive downloads in the press room.

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Cite this page: “Mobi Doctor — European Climate Health Index, Venice Climate Health Index”, https://www.mobidoctor.eu/health-index/venice/ — updated daily, data CC-BY 4.0 with attribution.