Myanmar records hottest ever April temperature of 48.2C

Myanmar recorded its hottest ever April temperature of 48.2 degrees Celsius (118.76 Fahrenheit), authorities said Monday, as the Southeast Asian nation bakes in a heatwave.

The mercury hit 48.2C in the town of Chauk in central Myanmar's Magway region on Sunday, according to a statement from the country's weather office, the highest temperature seen anywhere in Myanmar in April since records began 56 years ago, reports AFP.
The same day temperatures hit 40 degrees Celsius in commercial hub Yangon and 44 degrees Celsius in the second city of Mandalay, the weather office said.

"It was too hot here, and all of us just stayed at home," said one resident of Chauk, which is located in Myanmar's arid central plains.

"We can do nothing when it's like this," he told AFP, asking not to be named.

Across swathes of Myanmar's arid heartland daytime temperatures last Thursday were 3-4 degrees Celsius higher than the April average, according to the country's weather monitor.

Global temperatures hit record highs last year and the UN's World Meteorological Organization said Asia was warming at a particularly rapid pace, with the impact of heatwaves in the region becoming more severe.

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

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