The Kedah Education Department has instructed all schools in the state to stop co-curricular and outdoor activities effective today due to the current hot and dry spell that has his the country.

State Education director Datin Azuyah Hassan said following the directive, headmasters and principals in Kedah will be issued a notice on when to resume the outdoor activities.

"Hot weather with high temperatures can pose a danger to the health of students, therefore, all schools need to ensure all co-curricular and outdoor activities are not held in open areas," she said in a statement, here today.

The Meteorological Department director-general Datuk Che Gayah Ismail today said the hot and dry spell in many areas was in the final phase of the monsoon season which is expected to abate by the end of March.