Southeast Asia grapples with scorching heat wave

ANKARA

Several Southeast Asian countries are in the grip of a scorching heat wave, with temperatures shooting up to 43 degrees Celsius (109.4 Fahrenheit).

A searing heat wave continued to wreak havoc in the central and northern swathes of China on Wednesday with temperatures in some cities in Hebei and Henan provinces touching 43C or above, English daily Global Times reported.

The heat wave is also intensifying drought in Henan, one of the country’s major crop-producing provinces.

The Hebei Meteorological Service maintained its red alert, the highest level for high temperatures on Wednesday.

The weather forecast said that the searing heat wave will intensify impact in Hebei on Wednesday and Thursday with a large part of the province to be affected.

Cities such as Baoding and Langfang in the province, as well as places to the south will bake under blistering heat where the mercury is expected to soar to 37C (98.6 F) - 43 C.

On Thursday, the middle and southern parts of the province will continue to suffer from high temperatures of 38C to 40C, with some places expected to reach a stifling 41C (105.8 F) to 44C (111.2 F).

Several parts of the Indian capital New Delhi, where temperatures reached 41C, experienced extensive power cuts on Tuesday that deepened the effects of a heat wave amid an ongoing severe water crisis. The outage was reportedly triggered by a fire at a power grid that supplies 1,200 megawatts of electricity to Delhi, according to the New Delhi power minister.

Japan on Wednesday experienced its first “extremely hot day” as the temperature hit 35C (95F) in Fukushima prefecture and shot above 30C (86F) in parts of Tokyo, local English daily Japan Times reported citing the country’s meteorological agency.

The Date city of Fukushima prefecture experienced slightly over 35C, while the temperature jumped to 30.2C (86.36F) in Tokyo.

Severe heat is forecast to continue Thursday and Friday when temperatures are expected to rise to 30C and above over a broad swath of the country.

In Taiwan, a heat alert was issued for Taipei, New Taipei, Hualien and Taitung counties on Wednesday as temperatures soared to 36C (96.8F).

According to the Central Weather Administration (CWA) data, Taitung's Jinfong Township recorded a temperature of 36.5C, while Taimali Township, also in the county, saw the mercury hit above 36C.

In Taipei, the highest recorded temperature was 35.9C (96.62 F).

The hot temperatures are expected to continue throughout the week.