“This situation is expected to occur in the afternoon to early evening in many areas of the western, northern and interior parts of the Peninsula, as well as Sabah and Sarawak,” he said in a statement today.

Kurup, who is responsible for natural resources and environmental sustainability, said the current hot weather is a result of reduced cloud cover, particularly in the northern part of Peninsular Malaysia, after the end of the northeast monsoon.

He said the latest monitoring by the meteorological department had shown a significant reduction in areas recording temperatures exceeding 35 degrees Celsius.

“Only eight areas in Peninsular Malaysia are still at Level 1 alert status with maximum daily temperatures between 35 and 37 degrees Celsius for three consecutive days,” he said.

To ensure stable water storage in dams, cloud-seeding operations will be carried out on April 6-9 in the northern states of the Peninsula and in Johor, by the National Disaster Management Agency and the air force, he said.