Residents in Porto Alegre suffer heat wave

Residents of the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre are coping with intense heat as temperatures soar to 40 degrees.

A court has postponed the start of classes for thousands of schools, education officials said. The decision affects around 700,000 students. Classes in the 2,320 state schools were expected to begin on Monday but due to the strong heat wave they were rescheduled for February 17.

The Brazilian meteorological observatory Metsul said that temperatures “above 40° C” could be reached in the region on Monday, while Tuesday “could be the worst day of heat in this episode of extreme heat”.