Singapore reported its highest temperature in 40 years on Sunday, officials said, as a blistering heat-wave burns through large parts of South and South-east Asia.
Sunday’s temperature of 37 degrees Celsius was the highest this year, and matches the record for a daily peak recorded in April 1983, the National Environment Agency said on Facebook.
“The current warm and dry conditions are expected to continue tomorrow,” the agency said on Saturday. “Short-duration showers are expected next week which may help to moderate the warm tempera-tures,” it added.
May is normally one of the warmest months of the year, according to the NEA. Some schools in the city-state have relaxed rules on uniforms over the rising mercury in recent days, according to local broadcaster Channel News Asia.
Vietnam reported a record temperature of 44.1 degrees Celsius last week, with its state electricity company warning that the national power system would come under strain this summer due to antici-pated heatwaves.
Scientists say global warming is exacerbating adverse weather, with a recent report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warning that “every increment of global warming will intensify multiple and concurrent hazards”.—AFP
