A heat wave in Pakistan has triggered temporary school closures and power problems, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.
“The debilitating heat wave will continue this month,” said Zaheer Ahmed Babar, a senior member of Pakistan’s Meteorological Department. Temperatures could exceed the monthly norm by six degrees Celsius, he said. It will exceed 40 degrees Celsius in many parts of the country this week.
In Punjab, the country’s most populous province, all schools will not be open this week because of the heat wave, and about 18 million students will stay at home. Some parts of the country are experiencing hours-long power cuts.
On Monday, it was reported that the abnormal heat wave is also observed in neighboring India. In Delhi and areas adjacent to the Indian capital, temperatures have exceeded the 47 degrees Celsius mark in the last 24 hours. Authorities have declared a red, maximum, level of weather danger in the capital, as well as in the states of Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, where the previous day the temperature ranged from 43 to 46 degrees Celsius.
The heat wave is expected to continue in India for at least five more days.
