PETALING JAYA • Malaysians can expect the haze situation to improve once the monsoon transition phase kicks in this week, as thunderstorms and heavy downpours are expected across the country.

The Malaysian Meteorological Department said the monsoon transition phase is expected to begin on Tuesday and will last until the start of November.

This marks the end of the south-west monsoon period, which began on May 6, it said.

"During this phase, regional areas of the country will receive wind from various directions with low speeds, which poses as a potential for the formation of a thunderstorm," it said in a statement yesterday.

The overall air quality in Malaysia improved yesterday with the majority of states seeing a drop in the Air Pollutant Index (API) readings, leaving none in the hazardous and very unhealthy categories, Bernama reported.

An API reading of 201 to 300 is categorised as very unhealthy, and above 300 is hazardous.

As at 8pm yesterday, unhealthy API readings were reported in Kuching (154), Putrajaya (136), Shah Alam (132), Klang (119) and Seremban (127).

More than 300 people marched from Sogo to Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur yesterday afternoon to express their displeasure over inaction in relation to the haze and climate change.

Organised by Klima Action Malaysia, the rally was part of the Global Climate Strike, which took place in various cities worldwide.

Two flights from Johor and Singapore headed to Ipoh were cancelled yesterday due to the haze. The two flights were Malindo Air Flight OD1325 from Johor and Scoot Flight TR486 from Singapore.