A heatwave has set record temperatures across mainland Southeast Asia, with Vietnam, Laos and Bangkok setting all-time highs in recent days, according to multiple news reports.
But meteorologists have said these new highs may not last long as global warming has been having an increasing impact on weather all across Asia.
Vietnam recorded its highest ever temperature, of 44.2 degrees Celsius (about 111.6 Fahrenheit) on Saturday in the northern district of Tuong Duon in Nghe An province.
That news was revealed by weather historian Maximiliano Herrera, who said it came a day after a record 44.1C in another northern province in Vietnam.
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Meanwhile, the city of Luang Prabang in northern Laos hit 43.5 degrees Celsius (110.3 Fahrenheit) on Saturday, also breaking the national record of 42.7C (108.9 Fahrenheit) set in April, CNN reported, citing Herrera.
Vientiane, the capital of Laos, 310 kilometers south of Luang Prabang, also experienced record heat over the weekend with a temperature of 42.5C.
Saturday was a hot day in Bangkok as well, with the Thai capital enduring its own record of 41C (105.8F).
Bangkok is situated at the top of the Gulf of Thailand, and thus usually cooled by sea breezes. Its record high was well under the 45.4C recorded in Tak province, near Mae Sot, on the Thai-Myanmar border, an hour’s flight north of the capital, on April 15.
- Jim Pollard
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