Over 100 high temperature records were broken in Vietnam in April, according to the official data of the local meteorological service, while a deadly heat wave is hitting South and Southeast Asia.

In recent weeks, extreme heat has been recorded across Asia, from India to the Philippines, causing deaths from heatstroke and prompting authorities to close schools.

Human-induced climate change will lead to more frequent, longer and more intense heat waves, as scientists often warn.

Vietnam experienced three intense heat waves in April, according to data released by the national hydrometeorological forecasting center, with the mercury reaching 44°C in two cities earlier in the week.

The temperature is just short of the highest ever recorded in Vietnam — 44.2°C on May 7, 2023.

In total, 102 weather stations recorded records in April, with northern and central Vietnam most affected by the heatwave, with temperatures on average 2-4 degrees higher than the corresponding period last year.

Seven stations recorded temperatures above 43° Celsius on Tuesday.

Hundreds of thousands of dead fish

In a dramatic example of how extreme weather is affecting Vietnam, hundreds of thousands of fish died in an artificial lake in the southern province of Dong Nai. Images released showed residents walking or boating in the man-made Song Mai Lake, with the surface of the water barely visible under a layer of dead fish. This mass death is due to the lack of water due to the heat and mismanagement.

Vietnam’s meteorological service is predicting new heat waves in May, with temperatures 1.5 to 2.5°C higher than those of previous years.

While the months of April and May are usually the hottest of the year in Southeast Asia, experts believe that the El Niño phenomenon is making the heat particularly intense this year.

Bangladesh and Myanmar also recorded record temperatures in April, in Thailand at least 30 people have died from heatstroke since the start of the year, while in Cambodia soaring temperatures were partly responsible for a deadly munitions explosion.

In the Philippines, Catholic priests appealed to worshipers to pray for rain and cooler temperatures after a heat wave forced the government to suspend tens of thousands of schools.

Kolkata, in the eastern part of India, is suffering from sweltering heat, with the mercury reaching 43°C on the hottest April day since 1954.

Even Nepal, a mountainous country, was affected, with the government issuing health warnings and firefighters battling unusually large forest fires.