Starting at 3am this morning (Friday, October 14, 2016) and ending tonight at midnight, the Cinque Terre and surrounding areas are on a maximum alert storm warning (color coding for the warning is red, the highest level of alert).  On the map below, the Cinque Terre falls within section C.

Meteorologists are predicting exceedingly heavy rains and given the devastating floods that affected Vernazza & Monterosso nearly five years ago (on October 25, 2011), local officials are not taking the warning lightly:  schools have been cancelled, tour groups are not being permitted within the Cinque Terre, and local businesses within the potential flood zones have been asked to close (at their discretion).  The Cinque Terre National Park has announced that they will not only officially close the trails within the park (a normal procedure when there’s a level orange or red storm warning ) but they are also closing the park offices.

Those visitors that are already within the Cinque Terre today are asked to stay indoors in the case of heavy rains and to exercise prudence.