Hanoi to reduce street lights as power cuts loom

Faced with record-breaking heat, Vietnam's capital Hanoi has turned off some street lights to save electricity as demand for air conditioning soars.

Parks in the city of eight million people are now plunged into total darkness after 11 pm, while two-thirds of street lights are also switched off at the same hour. Scientists have warned that global warming is intensifying extreme weather events such as heatwaves.

In early May, Vietnam recorded its highest-ever temperature 44.1 degrees Celsius breaking a previous record set in 2019.  The country sweltered under a heatwave in April, and another in late May, and state electricity company EVN has warned that huge demand from air conditioners and fans has put the national power system under strain.