ANKARA

South and Southeast Asia braced for a searing heat wave that has gripped the region over the past week, sending the mercury as high as 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) and forcing thousands of schools to suspend in-person classes amid health warnings.

From the Philippines to Thailand, and India to Bangladesh, forecasters warned that mercury could exceed 40C (104F) in the coming days as people suffered from scorching heat.

In the Philippines, the government suspended in-person classes in all public schools for two days due to extreme weather, the local English daily Manila Times reported.

"In view of the latest heat index forecast ... and the announcement of a nationwide transport strike, all public schools nationwide shall implement asynchronous classes/distance learning on April 29 and 30," the Department of Education, which oversees more than 47,000 schools, said in a statement.

The exceptionally extreme weather is expected to last until mid-May after the temperature hit a record high – 38.8C (101.84F) – in Manila on Saturday.

Schools close in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, the High Court in the capital Dhaka on Monday ordered the shuttering of primary and secondary schools across the country till Thursday (with weekends falling on Friday and Saturday) amid the scorching heat that has swept across Bangladesh since April 1.

The court passed the order after a lawyer presented media reports that said a record 18 people, including two teachers, died after schools reopened on Sunday following a long vacation.

Earlier, Bangladesh shut schools for seven days until last Saturday due to heat waves.

The decision came after the meteorological office extended the ongoing heat alert for 72 hours starting Sunday. The heat alert projected no possibility of rain or the mercury falling in the next three days.

Heat waves swept across the entire country for 29 days straight until Monday, the longest heat wave in recorded history since 1948, according to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department.

A season-high temperature of 43C (109.4F) was recorded in the western Chuadanga district on Monday while the capital Dhaka hit 40.3C (104.54F).

In India, where several states are reeling under hot weather, authorities in the southern Kerala state said it is investigating the death of two people apparently due to heat stroke.

“The cause (of the deaths) is being investigated,” state disaster management official Shekhar Kuriakose told Anadolu. He added that a heat wave is prevailing in one of the districts in the state, while others are reeling under hot weather conditions.

Many areas in southern India have recorded temperature crossing 40C (104F).

Meteorologists issued a "severe weather" warning in Thailand after temperatures in a northern province topped 44.1C (111.38F) on Saturday.

Heat stroke has so far claimed at least 30 lives in Thailand this year.

Also in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam, forecasters warned that temperatures could exceed 40C (104F) in the coming days.

Global temperatures hit record highs last year, and the UN weather and climate agency said Asia was warming at a particularly rapid pace.

*Ahmad Adil in New Delhi and SM Najmus Sakib in Bangladesh contributed to this report