HCMC – Hot weather has sent electricity consumption in HCMC soaring to record highs in recent weeks as the demand for air conditioning and electric fans has skyrocketed.

The city used 94.4 million kWh of power on May 5, the highest daily electricity consumption level ever, according to the HCMC Load Dispatch Center. It was 868,600 kWh higher than the record set on April 25.

HCMC and other parts of Vietnam have been experiencing very high temperatures, which range from 28 to 40 degrees Celsius. In particularly, temperatures in Quan Hoa District in the northern province of Thanh Hoa shot up to 44 degrees Celsius on the afternoon of May 6.

Weather experts predicted the country would have a hotter-than-average summer this year.

The ultraviolet index in HCMC and elsewhere in southern Vietnam has soared to harmful levels in recent days, according to the Southern Regional Hydrometeorological Center.