Southeast Asia Weather & Natural Hazards Today: Sunday, October 25, 2026

Oct 25, 2026 · @Paul

By Paul Harrison, Orbis Weather

Smoke haze from fires in Indonesia remains the main hazard in Southeast Asia on Sunday, with air quality in the “unhealthy” range on Saturday across parts of Singapore, southern Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak. Heavy rain warnings cover southern Thailand and parts of Sumatra in Indonesia, while northern Vietnam stays hot ahead of a cold-air outbreak forecast for early next week.

No tropical cyclone threatens Southeast Asia today. Typhoon Rosal (international name Champi) left the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Saturday morning and is heading toward the East China Sea, and a low in the Bay of Bengal is forecast to track toward India. This report is current to about 5:50 a.m. Sunday, October 25 in Bangkok, Hanoi and Jakarta (UTC+7), 6:50 a.m. in Manila, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur (UTC+8), and 6:50 p.m. Saturday, October 24 US Eastern time.

Key facts

Tropical cyclones

None of the three systems below threatens Southeast Asia.

IMD said the Bay of Bengal system brings heavy rain to India’s Andaman Islands until October 25. IMD’s forecast track takes the system west-northwest toward India.

Floods and heavy rain

No flood deaths or evacuations were reported in the sources reviewed for this edition. The two warnings below are forecasts of heavy rain, not reports of flooding.

Thailand

The Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) warned on October 23 and 24 of heavy to very heavy rain in the South from October 24 to 28, with “exceptionally heavy downpours in some locations” and a risk of flash floods and run-off near hill slopes and waterways. Its advisory issued at 5 a.m. Thailand time on October 24 put five southern provinces under a very heavy rain warning for today. TMD links the rain to a cold air mass from China strengthening easterly winds and an intensifying monsoon trough over the South.

Indonesia

In Aceh, BMKG placed Aceh Tenggara on “Siaga” (alert) status for today and 14 districts on “Waspada” (caution), including Aceh Besar, Aceh Selatan, Pidie and Simeulue. BMKG forecaster Dedy Ardana urged residents to watch for “heavy to very heavy rain that can trigger floods and landslides, especially in disaster-prone areas.” In West Sumatra, the Minangkabau meteorological station put seven areas on “Siaga” through October 25, among them Padang, the Mentawai Islands, Pesisir Selatan and Solok, warning of floods, flash floods and landslides.

Country-by-country weather today

Earthquakes

The US Geological Survey (USGS) recorded five earthquakes of magnitude 4.4 or more in Southeast Asia in the 48 hours to Saturday evening, all below magnitude 5.

Tsunami status: USGS flagged no tsunami potential for any of these events, and none carried a damage alert.

Volcanoes

Alert levels below come from the Smithsonian Institution’s weekly report for October 15 to 21, which summarises bulletins from PHIVOLCS (Philippines, scale 0 to 5) and Indonesia’s volcanology centre PVMBG (scale 1 to 4).

Haze, fires and air quality

The ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) has Alert Level 3 in force for the southern ASEAN region, and reports moderate to dense smoke haze over parts of Kalimantan, Sumatra, Singapore, southern Peninsular Malaysia and western Sarawak. Satellites detected 8,713 hotspots (heat signals that may indicate fires) in Kalimantan and 1,432 in Sumatra between midnight and 4 p.m. Jakarta time on October 24, according to BMKG figures reported by Liputan6.

Both Singapore’s Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) and Malaysia’s Air Pollutant Index (API) treat 101 to 200 as “unhealthy.” Singapore’s National Environment Agency forecast a 24-hour PSI of 90 to 140 for Saturday. Singapore has begun a second round of free mask collection. ASMC expects inter-monsoon showers toward the end of October that “could start to alleviate” the haze.

What to watch over the next few days

• Haze relief or not: Singapore’s forecasters expect winds to turn southwesterly or westerly from Sunday, which could reduce smoke reaching the island; ASMC still warns of a continued risk of severe transboundary haze.
• Southern Thailand: TMD’s heavy rain warning runs to October 28, with flash flood risk in foothill and low-lying areas.
• Cold air in northern Vietnam: Vietnam’s national forecasting centre expects a medium-strength cold-air outbreak early next week, bringing rain and cooler weather to the North, with localised heavy rain from Thanh Hoa to Hue and on the south-central coast on October 27 and 28.
• Bay of Bengal cyclone: the system is forecast to strengthen as it heads toward eastern India, away from Southeast Asia; watch for any change in its forecast track.
• Volcanoes: Krakatau, Semeru and Merapi remain at Indonesia’s second-highest alert level.

About this article

This report summarises official bulletins and news reports available at the time of writing; it is not an official warning, and readers should follow their national weather and disaster agencies for decisions about safety. Wind speeds were converted from knots (1 knot = 1.852 km/h) and distances from nautical miles (1 nautical mile = 1.852 km) and rounded. PSI, API and hotspot counts change hourly and use different methods, so they should not be compared directly. Earthquake magnitudes are preliminary USGS figures and may be revised.

Frequently asked questions

Is any typhoon heading for Southeast Asia? No. Typhoon Rosal (Champi) has left the Philippine monitoring area and is moving toward the East China Sea, and the Bay of Bengal system is forecast to head for eastern India.

What is causing the haze? Smoke from forest and land fires in Indonesia, mainly in Kalimantan and Sumatra, is being carried across borders by southerly winds. ASMC links the dry conditions to El Niño, a warming of the Pacific that tends to reduce rainfall over the region.

What does an “unhealthy” air quality reading mean? On both Singapore’s PSI and Malaysia’s API, readings from 101 to 200 are classed as unhealthy, with “very unhealthy” and “hazardous” bands above that. Readers should follow national health advice.

What do the volcano alert levels mean? The Philippines uses a scale from 0 to 5 and Indonesia a scale from 1 to 4; on both, a higher number means greater danger.