PETALING JAYA - The Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) issued a Level 1 hot weather alert for 10 areas in the country on April 21.

In a notice on its social media page, MetMalaysia said eight areas in the peninsula would be experiencing scorching hot weather.

The areas are Pendang and Baling in Kedah; Hulu Perak in Perak; Kuala Krai, Gua Musang, Tanah Merah and Pasir Mas in Kelantan; and Besut in Terengganu.

The other two are in Sabah (Kinabatangan) and Sarawak (Mukah).

According to MetMalaysia’s website, a Level 1 warning is issued when temperatures at a location are between 35 deg C and 37 deg C for three consecutive days.

The El Nino weather phenomenon has brought hotter, drier weather over Malaysia and other South-east Asian countries due to changes in sea surface temperatures and surface winds over the Pacific Ocean.

Though the phenomenon has begun to weaken, it will continue to fuel above-average temperatures across the globe, said the World Meteorological Organisation on March 5.

Two people have died of heatstroke in Malaysia.

They are a 22-year-old Malaysian man who died in Pahang on Feb 2, and a three-year-old child from Kelantan who died on April 1.

The hot weather has also resulted in bush fires, which have been recorded in the states of Selangor, Johor and Sarawak.

Malaysia’s disaster management agency has said the fire and rescue department plans to focus on more than 650 hot spots nationwide to prevent more bush fires from breaking out.

The extreme weather is also affecting farmers in the region, as scorching temperatures and dwindling water supplies parch large swathes of farmland.

Padi farmers in the northern Malaysian state of Kedah face a heightened risk of water shortages and lower production yields. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK