HANOI: Vietnam recorded a record temperature of 44.1 degrees Celsius on Saturday at a weather station in the north of the country, an extreme phenomenon that is about to happen again, scientists say.

The survey was carried out by a station in Thanh Hoa (central-north) province, said the National Hydrometeorological Forecasting Center.

This figure beat the previous national record of 43.4 degrees Celsius, recorded on April 20, 2019 in Huong Khe district, central Ha Tinh province.

“This is a worrying record in the context of climate change and global warming,” climate science expert Nguyen Ngoc Huy told AFP from the capital Hanoi.

“I think this record will be broken many times,” he added. “This confirms that extreme climate models are in fact accurate.”

Scientists have shown that global warming exacerbates extreme weather conditions.

A farmer, Nguyen Thi Lan, told AFP that the temperature in Danang city (centre), which is getting hotter, is forcing farm workers to start their day earlier and earlier.

“We had to finish before 10am to escape the heat,” he said.

Vietnam’s climate varies from north to south, but the whole country is currently experiencing its hottest months.

Very hot

Across the country, weather experts and authorities have advised people to stay indoors during the hottest hours of the day.

The municipality of Danang has asked for government assistance “to deal effectively with heat, possible drought and water shortage”, according to state media.

The authorities also asked the municipal water company to ensure that the water supply for household use is sufficient.

By noon Saturday, downtown Hanoi was nearly empty, with many people staying indoors to escape the sun.

South Asia suffered a heat wave for most of April, and neighboring countries also recorded record high temperatures.

Thailand’s meteorological agency reported a record high of 44.6°C in the western province of Tak. In Burma, the media reported that a city in the east of the country recorded a maximum temperature of 43.8°C.

Farther west, Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, which has long suffered from climate change, recorded its highest temperature since the 1960s.

In India, the meteorological authority said parts of the country were experiencing temperatures three to four degrees above normal.

A recent report by United Nations climate experts (IPCC) indicated that any increase in global warming increases major natural risks (heatwaves, extreme rainfall, droughts, etc.).