Voting continues in Male’ as feels like temperature rises to scorching 44C

The feels like temperature in the Maldivian capital rose to a scorching 44 degrees Celsius on Sunday, as tens of thousands of Maldivians vote in the parliamentary elections.

According to informational released by the Maldives Meteorological Service, the warmest temperature was recorded in Male’ City, where the temperature rose to 32.7 degrees Celsius at 11:00 am. The feels like temperature was higher, at 44.2 degrees Celsius.

In northern Maldives, the feels like temperature was recorded at 43.7 degrees Celsius

And in the south, the feels like temperature was 42.8 degrees Celsius, with the actual temperature hitting 3.9 degrees Celsius in L. Atoll.

Maldives is experiencing extreme heat at present, with the feels like temperature in the capital soaring to a scorching 48 degrees Celsius on April 10. The national weather agency expects the temperature to remain warm until around 02:00 pm.

Polls opened at 08:00 am and are set to close at 05:30 pm. Elections Commission (EC) has said that polling time will not be extended.

Total 368 candidates are contesting in the elections for 93 seats in the Parliament, including six new seats. This includes: 90 candidates from the main ruling People’s National Congress (PNC); 89 candidates from Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP); 39 candidates from the Democrats; 10 candidates from Jumhoory Party (JP); four candidates from Maldives Development Alliance (MDA); four from Adhaalath Party (AP); two from Maldives National Party (MNP); and 130 independent candidates.

Total 284,663 people are eligible to vote in this year’s elections.