February is frigid in most parts of Italy, but is not without its festivities. There’s Valentine’s Day and Carnevale, and many Italian schools observe a winter break called Settimana Bianca — White Week — a time for skiing and sledding.
What is the Weather in Italy in February?
February in Italy is just as cold as it is in January, but the temperatures start to climb at the end of the month. February is the preferred month for Italian ski and snowboard enthusiasts, who usually take time off in mid-month to hit the slopes.
February is one of the most popular months to visit Venice because of its Carnival. While the famous festival sometimes takes place in March, it often falls during February when the temperatures are still quite cold. Venice and other northern Italian cities average high temperatures in the high 40s °F (9°C) and lows around or just above freezing in February. Luckily, the risk of rain and other precipitation is lower in February, averaging just 4-5 days.
Central Italy is still cold in February. But the first signs of spring can start to appear near the end of the month, especially in Rome. Average temperatures for Florence in February range from a low of 37°F (3°C) to a high of 55°F (13°C).
February days in southern Italy are even milder, especially as the calendar nears March. Naples and Palermo get on average 7-9 days of rain during February, with temperatures ranging from the low to upper 40s °F (5-9°C) for lows and the mid- to upper-50s °F (14-15°C) for highs.
February Average Temperatures
| Florence | Milan | Naples | Palermo | Rome | Turin | Venice | |||
| High/Low F | 55/37 | 48/33 | 59/40 | 59/48 | 56/39 | 48/39 | 48/33 | ||
| High/Low C | 13/3 | 9/1 | 15/5 | 15/9 | 14/4 | 9/4 | 9/1 |
February in Italy: Holidays, Festivals, and Other Events
Carnevale / Carnival
Depending on the calendar, Carnevale season begins as early as February 3. Carnival celebrations run for approximately two weeks, with big events, parades, balls, performances, and food fairs. The best known Carnival celebrations in Italy take place in Venice and Viareggio, a seaside town in Tuscany.
Near Rome, the town of Ronciglione is known for its carnival and riderless horse race, which have origins that date back to the 16th century.
February 5 – Feast Day of Saint Agatha, Catania (Sicily)
Silver cart (vara) carrying Sant’Agata in Catania / Photo via Visit Sicily 
Minne di Sant’Agata / Photo via Cucina Italiana
Saint Agatha (Sant’Agata) is the patron saint of Molise, Gallipoli (Puglia), the Republic of San Marino, and in Catania (Sicily) where she was born. Her feast day is celebrated on 5 February, the day when the young saint is believed to have been martyred in 251.
Catania commemorates Sant’Agata — the Santuzza — every year from 3-5 February with candelora processions, fireworks, and desserts in the shape of breasts called Minne di Sant’Agata. It is the largest religious festival devoted to Saint Agatha in Italy and the most important festival of the year in the Sicilian city.
Saint Agatha, whose breasts were cut off as part of her torture, is also the patron saint of rape victims, breast cancer patients, bell founders, and volcanic eruptions.
February 14 – Valentine’s Day
If you want to spend lovers’ day in the home of St. Valentine, head to the town of Terni in Umbria.
Another ideal spot for you and your valentine on the 14th is in Verona, which holds the Verona in Love festival each year in honor of young lovers Romeo and Juliet. Stagings of Shakespeare’s play, as well as art exhibitions and sweet markets, complete the week-long love fest.
Another place to spend Valentine’s Day? Rome.
Saldi – Winter Sales
Winter Sales (saldi) continue throughout February. See January for info.
February Calendar: Italy Anniversaries and Events
February 1
- Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème performed for the first time in Turin (1896)
February 2
- Death of Baldassare Castiglione (1529), author of the Book of the Courtier
February 3
- Earliest possible date for Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras
- Feast Day of San Biagio
- Birth of sculptor Giuseppe Moretti (1857)
- Cavalese cable car disaster near Trento (1998)
February 4
- Death of Septimius Severus (211)
- Death of Antonio del Pollaiolo (1498)
February 5
- Feast Day of Saint Agatha
February 7
- “Bonfire of the Vanities” in Florence (1497)
February 8
- Birth of Guercino (1591)
- Death of Nicola Salvi (1751), architect of the Trevi Fountain
February 9
- First section of Rome’s Metropolitana underground system inaugurated (1955)
February 10
- Giorno del Ricordo / National Memorial Day of the Exiles and Foibe. “The remembrance is in memory of the killing and enforced exile of Italians and democrat or anticommunist Slavs ordered by communist dictator Josip Broz Tito in 1943–60.”
February 11
- Birth of Ottavio Missoni (1921), founder of fashion brand Missoni
- Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See sign the Lateran Treaty, establishing Vatican City as an independent city-state (1929)
February 12
- Death of Giuseppe Donizetti (1856)
- Death of Francesco Hayez (1882), painter of the famous “The Kiss” painting in Milan’s Pinacoteca di Brera
- Birth of director Franco Zeffirelli (1923)
- Death of Giovanni Brancaccio (1975)
February 13
- Death of Benvenuto Cellini (1571)
February 14
- Feast Day of San Valentino/Valentine’s Day
- Birth of Leon Battista Alberti (1404)
- Death of Il Sodoma (1549)
February 15
- Feast Day of Saints Faustino and Giovita, patron saints of Brescia
- Traditional date of Lupercalia, Roman fertility festival
- Birth of Galileo Galilei (1564)
- Beginning of the assault on Monte Cassino (1944)
February 16
- Death of poet and Nobel laureate Giosuè Carducci (1907)
- Birth of Valentino Rossi (1979)
February 17
- Death of Giordano Bruno, who was burned at the stake for heresy in Rome’s Campo de’ Fiori (1600)
February 18
- Death of Fra Angelico (1455)
- Death of Michelangelo (1564)
- Birth of Enzo Ferrari (1898), founder of Ferrari
February 19
- Death of Umberto Eco (2016)
February 20
- Debut of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville in Rome’s Teatro Argentina (1816)
- Death of Ferruccio Lamborghini (1993), founder of Lamborghini
February 21
- First known case of coronavirus in Italy detected in Codogno (2020)
February 22
- Feast Day of Santa Margherita of Cortona
- Feast Day of the Chair of Saint Peter in the Vatican
- Death of Amerigo Vespucci (1512)
February 23
- Death of John Keats (1821), buried in Rome’s Protestant Cemetery
February 24
- Death of Sandro Pertini (1990), voice of the Italian Resistance and later seventh President of Italy
February 25
- Birth of Mattia Preti (1613), prolific painter influenced by Caravaggio
- Birth of Enrico Caruso (1873)
February 26
- Death of Roger II of Sicily (1154), founder of the Kingdom of Sicily
- First broadcast of Radio Italia, a station dedicated to playing only Italian music (1982)
February 27
- Birth of Constantine the Great (272)
- Birth of Marino Marini (1901)
February 29
- Birth of Gioachino Rossini (1792)
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