All-time temperature records were broken in Vietnam and Laos last week. On 6 May, Hoi Xuan in Vietnam reached a scorching 44.1C, breaking the previous record for the country of 43.4C, set in 2019. On the same day, Laos recorded its highest-ever temperature, , which reached 43.5C in Luang Prabang. These records were set just a few weeks after temperatures in Thailand rose above 45C for the first time.
A breakdown of the heat in south-east Asia is expected to occur in the next few days as a tropical disturbance is likely to develop nearby. Forecast models suggest that, over the coming days, the Bay of Bengal will have the perfect conditions for cyclogenesis to occur. By later this week, several factors, including enhanced vorticity and very high sea surface temperatures, will enhance the chance that a tropical storm will edge north-eastwards into parts of Myanmar. This will bring some strong winds and significant rainfall to south-east Asia, including the areas that have recently seen their temperature records broken.
Spain has also had some particularly dry and hot conditions over recent weeks, with the country breaking its April temperature record. The heatwave continued for weeks and the overall temperature anomaly for Spain in April was more than 3C above normal for most parts of the country. And it’s not just the heat that has affected Spain; it has also been very dry away from the north coast. Rainfall barely reached 20% of a normal April rainfall for most of the country, with some places in central and southern areas even receiving less than 10% of a normal April month. This would be impactful as a standalone month, but since the start of the year much of Spain has been receiving below normal rainfall each month. May is also already well on the way to becoming another dry month, with the outlook not expected to bring much relief. Any rain through the next couple of weeks will probably stay away from the worst-affected drought areas. Even though the north-east has not been the worst affected, Catalonia has exceptionally low reservoir levels, which could hit water supplies for cities including Barcelona through the summer.
