COATS and scarves have come out prematurely in Brazil, as the south of the tropical country experiences a record-breaking cold spell, a menace for both homeless people and crops.

With 1.4°C, the capital Brasilia recorded the coldest temperature in its history yesterday, with more than a month to go until the official start of winter.

The Inmet meteorological agency site showed the entire southern half of a map of Brazil is coloured orange and captioned: “Cold wave (danger).”

In Sao Paulo, the largest city in Latin America, the thermometer stood at 6.6°C on Wednesday, a record for May since 1990. The “feels like” temperature was -4°C.

A 66-year-old homeless man died in Sao Paulo on Wednesday, after falling ill in a food distribution line. According to local media, he had spent the night in the street.

Sao Paulo City Hall this week announced 2,000 additional shelter beds, bringing total capacity to about 17,000.

But Brazil’s economic capital has almost 32,000 homeless people, almost a third more than three years ago, before the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the southern state of Santa Catarina, which recorded temperatures under 2°C for several days, snow has enthralled tourists.

According to Estael Sias of the Metsul meteorological agency, the “atypical cold wave” is due to Cyclone Yakecan affecting southern Brazil and Uruguay.

“This cyclone is an anomaly, which certainly fits in with extreme events related to climate change.”

Inmet warned of “possible consequences” of the cold snap and frost on agriculture in one of the biggest food producers in the world. – AFP, May 20, 2022.