The Hong Kong Observatory has launched the Italian version of an award-winning weather forecast website in collaboration with the Servizio Meteorologico Italiana, the national weather service of Italy, the observatory announced Friday.

The Italian version of the World Weather Information Service website, pioneered and operated by the Hong Kong Observatory in English since 2001, offers latest official weather forecasts of world cities issued by the respective National Meteorological Services.

With the launch of the Italian version, the World Weather Information Service website is now serving the international public in eight different languages.

Lee Boon-ying, director of the Hong Kong Observatory, said technical personnel from the HKO and the Servizio Meteorologico Italiana worked closely to develop the website.

"As travel becomes rather common these days, people will find it helpful to access weather information of the cities they plan to visit, and more importantly, in their own languages," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 28, 2009)