"The monsoon set in on June 20, which is two weeks later than its normal arrival time," said Akram Hussain, director of the country's Meteorological Department.

"Our records show that the last time the monsoon came so late was in 1972 when it arrived on June 14," Hussain said.

The monsoon, which brings much-needed rain following the dry season across the subcontinent, normally sets in across the entire country by June 5, bringing heavy downpours.

This year's monsoon was also unusual because it has not yet produced much rainfall, Hussain said, adding it followed a year of unusual weather patterns.

"The pre-monsoon storms came a month earlier than usual and the winter was brief with a minimum temperature that was higher than normal. Rainfall for most of the year was also below average," he said.

"We believe these adverse impacts are mostly due to global warming as our studies also have shown that the temperature is gradually rising in the country," he added.

Earlier this year experts said the winter was the shortest in 10 years with seasonal rainfall also 60 percent below average.

Winter in tropical Bangladesh normally starts December 1 and lasts until February 28. But this year meteorologists said winter was over by February 5. sa/har/sm

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