Heat records broken, more hot weather on the way

April saw 112 heat records as the country baked in sweltering weather, with many places breaking temperature records set over a decade ago.

And more intense heatwaves will continue prevail throughout May.

Nguyễn Đức Hòa, deputy head of the Climate Forecasting Office at the National Centre for Hydro-meteorological and Forecasting, said there were three periods of intense heatwaves occurred in the north-west and north-central regions, stretching from Thanh Hóa Province to Phú Yên Province in April.

The intense heatwaves occurred on April 1-4; April 12-17; and April 19-30.

During the last four days of the month, scorching heat was experienced across the entire northern and central regions, with temperatures ranged from 39 to 42 degrees Celsius, with some areas in the central region exceeding 43 degrees.

In the meantime, the Central Highlands and southern regions were hit by prolonged periods of scorching heat throughout the month.

Many measuring stations reported the highest daily temperatures exceeding historical values for the same period, some even surpassing those from the past 20 years.

On April 27 in Hà Nội, Láng Station

recorded a temperature of 41.5 degrees Celsius, surpassing the historical value of 39 degrees set 18 years ago in 2006; Sơn Tây Station recorded 40.4 degrees Celsius, surpassing 37.8 degrees Celsius set in 1998, and Hà Đông Station recorded 40.5 degrees Celsius, exceeding 37.2 degrees Celsius set in 2015.

On April 28, several places also reported temperatures exceeding historical values for the same period, such as Đông Hà Station in the central province of Quảng Trị recorded 44 degrees Celsius, exceeding 42.1 degrees Celsius set in 1980; Lạc Sơn Station in the northern province of Hòa Bình recorded 42 degrees Celsius, surpassing 40.7 degrees Celsius set in 2012.

Đông Hà City, in the central province of Quảng Trị as well as Tương Dương District, in the central province of Nghệ An, recorded the highest temperatures of 44 degrees Celsius on April 28 and 30.

The National Centre for Hydro-meteorological and Forecasting also reported that more than 30 thunderstorms, hailstorms and lightning happened nationwide in April, mainly concentrated in northern provinces.

Assessing the climate trend for May, Hòa said that the average temperature nationwide was predicted to be generally higher than the average of many years by 1.52.5 degrees Celsius.

Also in May, a hot low-pressure system to the west was expected to continue to operate strongly, resulting in many days of intense scorching heat in many provinces, stretching from Thanh Hóa Province to Phú Yên Province.

The Central Highlands and southern regions would continue to experience many days of widespread scorching heat, concentrated in the first 20 days of the month.

"The phenomenon of intense heat nationwide is forecasted to occur more frequently than the average during the same period of the past years," he said.

Thunderstorms in the northern provinces are also expected to gradually increase in May.

Additionally, during the last 10 days of May, the south-west monsoon in the South is expected to become more active, leading to a higher likelihood of increased rainfall in the Central Highlands and southern regions.

He warned that people should be vigilant against dangerous weather phenomena such as thunderstorms accompanied by hail, lightning, hailstorms and strong gusts of wind.