BANGKOK - Millions of people across South and South-east Asia sweltered through unusually hot weather on April 25, as the Thai government said at least 30 people have already died from heatstroke in 2024.

A wave of exceptionally hot weather has blasted the region this week, prompting thousands of schools across the Philippines to suspend in-person classes.

An Indian minister blamed hot weather after he fainted during an election campaign speech, as the country’s weather bureau said severe heatwave conditions were expected in nine eastern and southern states in the coming days.

Even mountainous Nepal issued health warnings and put hospitals on alert on April 25 as temperatures soared in its southern plains.

Scientific research has shown climate change is causing heatwaves to be longer, more frequent and more intense.

The United Nations said this week that Asia was the region most affected by climate and weather hazards in 2023, with floods and storms the chief causes of casualties and economic losses.

The city authorities in Bangkok gave an extreme heat warning as the heat index was expected to rise above 52 deg C.

Temperatures in the concrete sprawl of the Thai capital hit 40.1 deg C on April 24 and similar levels were forecast for April 25.

The heat index – a measure of what the temperature feels like, taking into account humidity, wind speed and other factors – was at an “extremely dangerous” level in Bangkok, the city’s environment department warned.

The authorities in Udon Thani province, in the kingdom’s rural north-east, also warned of blazing temperatures on April 25.

The Health Ministry said late on April 24 that 30 people had died from heatstroke between Jan 1 and April 17, compared with 37 in the whole of 2023.

Deputy director-general Direk Khampaen of Thailand’s Department of Disease Control told AFP that officials were urging elderly people and those with underlying medical conditions, including obesity, to stay indoors and drink water regularly.

The Philippines’ state weather service said the heat index in 38 cities and municipalities, including Manila, would be in the “danger” zone on April 25 – feeling like 42 deg C to 51 deg C.

“Heat cramps and heat exhaustion are likely” in such conditions, the service said, and “heatstroke is probable with continued exposure”.

India’s Roads Minister Nitin Gadkari fainted during a speech on April 24 as he campaigned for the re-election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

“I felt uncomfortable due to the heat during the rally,” Mr Gadkari wrote on social media platform X, adding that he had recovered and would continue campaigning.

India is in the middle of a marathon election staggered across six weeks, with large outdoor campaign rallies being staged across the country.

The election commission said this week that it was reviewing the impact of heatwaves and humidity before each round of voting with a view to “mitigatory measures” that would still allow people to cast their ballots.

In Nepal, temperatures were forecast to soar above 40 deg C in two southern provinces, and the government ordered officials to prepare.

“We have already circulated messages to local bodies to be alert and asked hospitals to be on standby to serve more patients,” Mr Roshan Pokhrel, a secretary at the Ministry of Health and Population, told AFP.

Mr Krishna Kumar Gupta, an official in southern Lumbini province, said incidences of wildfires have also gone up.

“Yesterday it was 43 deg C and people have also started to feel sick. We are getting complaints of diarrhoea, dehydration and headaches,” he said.

April is typically the hottest time of the year in Thailand and other countries in South-east Asia, but conditions in 2024 have been exacerbated by the El Nino weather pattern.

2023 saw record levels of heat stress across the globe, with the United Nations weather and climate agency saying Asia was warming at a particularly rapid pace.

Thailand has sweltered through a heatwave this week, with a temperature of 44.2 deg C recorded in the northern province of Lampang on April 22 – just shy of the all-time national record of 44.6 deg C hit in 2023.

Across the border in Myanmar, the temperature reached a blazing 45.9 deg C on April 24, with more of the same expected on April 25.

The chaos and conflict unleashed by the military’s 2021 coup has led to rolling power blackouts in much of the country, hampering people’s ability to keep cool with fans and air-conditioning. AFP