A slight haze hung over Singapore on Friday evening, affecting visibility in certain parts of the island.

As of 6pm, the Pollutant Standards Index's (PSI) three-hour reading stood at 54, which is in the

moderate range. Air quality had gradually worsened throughout the day, from a three-hour reading

of 31 at 9am on Friday morning. On Thursday, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said that the

transition from the Northeast Monsoon to the inter-monsoon period in the second half of March "may

pose some risk of transboundary haze affecting Singapore".

The Riau province of Sumatra has been shrouded in dense haze over recent days as farmers set fires

to clear land during the dry spell. On March 5, NEA detected six hotspots in Sumatra and 47 hotspots

in Peninsular Malaysia. But it added that the low hotspot count for Sumatra was due to cloud cover

and partial satellite coverage.

Singapore is in the midst of one of its longest spells of dry weather in years, with barely any rain over

the past month and a half. NEA said it will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates.

These can be accessed from NEA's Facebook and Twitter accounts and also at the haze

microsite at www.haze.gov.sg