logo
Record heatwave blasts northern Vietnam

Record heatwave blasts northern Vietnam

Straits Times19 hours ago
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
The normally bustling streets of Hanoi were quieter on Aug 3 as locals hid from the burning heat.
Hanoi - Northern Vietnam is sweltering under a blistering heatwave, with 17 places across seven provinces reporting record highs for the month of August and electricity demand spiking as people try to stay cool, authorities said on Aug 5.
Temperatures peaked on Aug 3 and 4 across the densely populated Red River Delta region, a hugely important industrial and agricultural area, with the capital Hanoi experiencing its first-ever August day above 40 deg C.
While Vietnam experiences hot weather every year, scientists say human-driven climate change is causing more intense weather patterns, including higher temperatures.
The normally bustling streets of Hanoi were quieter on Aug 3 as locals hid from the burning heat.
Flower seller Ngo Thu Thuy told AFP of her exhaustion from riding her flower bike in the heat.
'I earn less as no one bothers to buy flowers in this heat. I still have to try my best to earn my living' said Ms Thuy, 38, covered from head to toe to protect herself from the sun.
A construction worker who identified himself as Nam said 'too many buildings and vehicles' has turned Hanoi into 'a pan on fire' over the past two days.
Top stories
Swipe. Select. Stay informed.
Singapore 'She had a whole life ahead of her': Boyfriend mourns Yishun fatal crash victim
World Israel to decide next steps in Gaza after ceasefire talks collapse
Singapore Singapore-made bot matchmakes strangers virtually – without profile photos
Life Urinary issues: Enlarged prostate affects half of men in their 50s and up
Singapore Jail for man over scheme to buy phones worth more than $45k with stolen credit card details
Singapore Conditional warning for ex-manager at Mendaki accused of trying to obtain laptop as bribe
Records set in past heatwaves in 2021 and 2024 were broken at 17 weather stations around the north, though rain forecast for Aug 5 evening is expected to bring cooler temperatures.
One weather station in downtown Hanoi recorded a high of 40.3 deg C, beating the city's previous August record of 39.8 deg C set in 2021.
Outside Hanoi, stations in the provinces of Phu Tho, Tuyen Quang, Lang Son, Bac Ninh, Haiphong and Ninh Binh all reported record August highs.
'The air humidity in Hanoi and the delta area on Monday was only up to 52 per cent, causing a distinct feeling of dryness and heat,' Vietnam's top weather forecaster Nguyen Van Huong said in a statement released by the ministry of agriculture and environment.
Vietnam's electricity company EVN said consumption in Hanoi hit an all-time record at 1.28pm on Aug 4 as residents sought to cool off with fans and air-conditioning.
'I cannot imagine spending the night without air conditioning over the past few days,' office worker Dang Xuan Huong said.
'It's so strange that we are in August and it is still burning hot', he said. AFP
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

100 missing after flash flood washes out Indian Himalayan town
100 missing after flash flood washes out Indian Himalayan town

Straits Times

time2 hours ago

  • Straits Times

100 missing after flash flood washes out Indian Himalayan town

Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Residential buildings are partially submerged in sludge after a cloudburst caused a massive mudslide in India's Uttarakhand state on Aug 5. DEHRADUN, India - A flash flood driving a torrent of mud smashed into a town in India's Himalayan region on Aug 5, killing at least four people with around 100 others missing. The roaring waters tore down a narrow mountain valley, demolishing buildings as the flood barrelled into the town of Dharali in Uttarakhand state. 'It is a serious situation,' Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth told the Press Trust of India news agency. 'We have received information about four deaths and around 100 people missing. We pray for their safety.' Videos broadcast on Indian media showed a terrifying surge of muddy water sweeping away multi-storey apartment blocks in the tourist region. Several people could be seen running before being engulfed by the dark waves of debris that uprooted entire buildings. Uttarakhand State Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said rescue teams had been deployed 'on a war footing'. 'Wake-up call' India's army said 150 troops had reached the town, helping rescue around 20 people who had survived the wall of freezing sludge. 'A massive mudslide struck Dharali... triggering a sudden flow of debris and water through the settlement,' the army said. Images released by the army, taken from the site after the main torrent had passed, showed a river of slow-moving mud. A wide swathe of the town was swamped by deep debris. In places, the mud lapped at the rooftops of houses. State Disaster Response Force commander Arpan Yaduvanshi said the mud was 15m deep in places, swamping some buildings entirely. 'Search and rescue efforts are ongoing, with all available resources being deployed to locate and evacuate any remaining stranded persons,' army spokesman Suneel Bartwal said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences in a statement, and said that 'no stone is being left unturned in providing assistance'. Chief Minister Dhami said the flood was caused by a sudden and intense 'cloudburst', calling the destruction 'extremely sad and distressing'. The India Meteorological Department issued a red alert warning for the area, saying it had recorded 'extremely heavy' rainfall of around 21cm in isolated parts of Uttarakhand. Deadly floods and landslides are common during the monsoon season from June to September, but experts say climate change, coupled with urbanisation, is increasing their frequency and severity. The UN's World Meteorological Organization said in 2024 that increasingly intense floods and droughts are a 'distress signal' of what is to come as climate change makes the planet's water cycle ever more unpredictable. 'The devastating loss... must be our final wake-up call', said climate activist Harjeet Singh, from the Satat Sampada Climate Foundation in New Delhi. 'This tragedy is a deadly cocktail', he added. 'Global warming is super-charging our monsoons with extreme rain, while on the ground, our own policies of cutting hills; unscientific, unsustainable, and reckless construction; and choking rivers for so-called 'development' are destroying our natural defences.' AFP

Summer 2025 already a cavalcade of climate extremes
Summer 2025 already a cavalcade of climate extremes

Business Times

time3 hours ago

  • Business Times

Summer 2025 already a cavalcade of climate extremes

[PARIS] Record heat, massive fires, deadly floods... August has barely begun, but the summer of 2025 is already marked by a cascade of destructive and deadly weather in the northern hemisphere. 'Extreme temperatures and precipitation have become more intense and more frequent on a global scale,' says Sonia Seneviratne, a professor at ETH Zurich and member of the UN-mandated climate science advisory panel, the IPCC. 'We are in the midst of climate change,' Fred Hattermann, a scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), told AFP. 'The risk of extreme events has increased significantly,' he said, noting that 2024 was the first year in which the planet's average surface temperature was 1.6 deg C above the preindustrial benchmark. That deceptively small jump makes a huge difference. Higher temperatures increase evaporation, so that more water is stored in the atmosphere. This, in turn, increases the risk of heavy rainfall and flooding. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 12.30 pm ESG Insights An exclusive weekly report on the latest environmental, social and governance issues. Sign Up Sign Up 'with every increment of temperature rise the risk of more and stronger extremes increases,' Hattermann added. 50 deg C in the Gulf, Turkey Already in May, temperatures exceeded 50 deg C in the United Arab Emirates. On Aug 1, the thermometer hit 51.8 deg C, just under the all-time record of 52 deg C. Muslim pilgrims walk as water sprinklers spray water during the annual hajj pilgrimage in Mina, Saudi Arabia, June 7, 2025. PHOTO: REUTERS The entire Gulf region is suffocating: the Saudi capital Riyadh recorded temperatures of 44 deg C, while Kuwait frequently hit 50 deg C. As did Iraq, where air conditioning has become vulnerable to chronic power cuts, and water reserves are at their lowest level in years. Turkey saw the 50 deg C threshold exceeded for the first time: the town of Silopi on the border with Iraq and Syria reached 50.5 deg C on July 26. The country has experienced thousands of fires this summer amidst a severe drought. Pedestrians use their handheld fans on a hot day in Tokyo, Japan, Aug 5, 2025. PHOTO: AFP In Asia, meanwhile, Japan broke its all-time temperature record on Tuesday with 41.8 deg C in the city of Isesaki, north-west of Tokyo. The country's iconic cherry trees, emblematic of the archipelago, are blooming earlier than ever due to the heat. Torrential rains in Hong Kong On Tuesday, Hong Kong saw the highest rainfall total for August in more than 140 years of record-keeping: 35.5 cm in a single day. Workers work to remove collapsed scaffolding brought down by strong winds and heavy rain in Hong Kong after Typhoon Wipha skirted along China's southern coast, July 20, 2025. PHOTO: AFP On mainland China, a week earlier, severe weather killed at least 44 people and left nine missing in rural districts north of Beijing. Pakistan floods, Finland heat 266 people, nearly half of them children, have already lost their lives in Pakistan due to torrential rains sweeping across the country. The 2025 monsoon, which started early, was described as 'unusual' by authorities. Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province, recorded 73 per cent more rainfall in July than in 2024. People come to Scandinavia to seek cooler climes, but since July Norway, Sweden and Finland have experienced sustained temperatures more typical of the Mediterranean. People sunbathing at Ounaskoski beach at the Arctic Circle in Rovaniemi, Finland, July 23, 2025. PHOTO: AFP Aug 3 marked the end of a 22-day period with temperatures above 30 deg C in Finland: a record. In Rovaniemi, a Finnish city north of the Arctic Circle, temperatures reached 30 deg C, higher than in southern Europe at the same time. Mega-fires in Canada Canada is experiencing one of the worst forest fire seasons on record, amplified by drought and above-normal temperatures. Other parts of the world are also burning, from Scotland to Arizona and Greece. According to the European Union's Copernicus weather and climate observatory, total smoke and greenhouse gas emissions since the beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere are among the highest ever recorded. AFP

Big wildfire rages in southern France
Big wildfire rages in southern France

Straits Times

time5 hours ago

  • Straits Times

Big wildfire rages in southern France

Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox A wildfire in southern France's Aude region near the Spanish border has scorched around 4,500 hectares (11,100 acres) of forest, the fire brigade said late on Tuesday, as hundreds of firefighters battled to bring the blaze under control. More than 1,250 firefighters have been deployed to the scene, Colonel Alexandre Jouassard, spokesperson for the civil protection agency, told BFMTV. President Emmanuel Macron said on X the fire was progressing and that "all the nation's resources were mobilized." Two people were injured in the fire, including one seriously, Lucie Rosech, the deputy prefect of Aude, told BFMTV. REUTERS

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store