The Department of Meteorology has issued a warm weather advisory for Friday, covering the North-Central and Eastern provinces and the Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya, Monaragala and Hambantota districts, Ada Derana and the Daily Mirror reported.
The heat index — the temperature as felt on the human body — is likely to rise to the “Caution” level at some places in those areas during the daytime.
What the Caution level means
The Met Department calculates the Heat Index Forecast using relative humidity together with the maximum temperature, giving the condition felt on the body rather than the air temperature alone.
At the Caution level, the department says, prolonged exposure to the sun and outdoor activity will result in fatigue, and continuing activity in those conditions could lead to heat cramps.
Residents in the affected areas have been asked to stay hydrated and to limit strenuous outdoor activity.
The advisory has widened south
The warning extends a run of near-daily advisories over the same northern and eastern districts. An advisory for Monday, 31 August covered the Eastern Province and six districts including Polonnaruwa, and a further one for Tuesday, 1 September covered the Northern, North-Central and Eastern provinces and Monaragala. That advisory followed Vavuniya recording the country’s highest temperature at 38.8°C.
Friday’s advisory adds Hambantota, on the southern coast, to the affected list — the first time in this sequence that the warning has reached beyond the north, east and Monaragala.
Neither report gives a temperature forecast, a validity period for the advisory, or the time at which it was issued. As with earlier advisories in this series, no expiry is stated, which leaves a reissued warning indistinguishable from one still in force.
Context
The heat is falling on districts already under drought stress. The El Niño event now running has driven reservoir levels down across the dry zone, and the World Meteorological Organization said this week that the event is near certain to persist to February 2027 and turn “very strong”.
