Hong Kong recorded an annual mean temperature of 24.8°C last year, according to data from the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) – making it the warmest year on record for Macao’s neighbouring SAR.
The HKO noted that the figure was 1.3°C higher than the 1991-2020 normal temperature and that 11 months of the year were “warmer than usual.” Record-breaking monthly mean temperatures were recorded for last April and October.
The observatory also said that Hong Kong’s temperatures were expected to be “above normal” this year due to global warming, but annual rainfall should be “near normal.”
[See more: 2024 was officially hot, wet and stormy, the weather bureau says]
Tropical cyclone season is expected to start in June this year or even earlier, continuing until October, the HKO said. “There will likely be about five to eight tropical cyclones coming within 500 kilometres of Hong Kong during the year, which is normal to above normal,” the statement read.
Last year was one of Macao’s hottest on record, too. The SAR clocked an average temperature of 23.6ºC in 2024, tying the year with 2019.
It was also the world’s hottest year on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization – which pointed out that the past ten years had all been in the top ten warmest years on record. “Global heating is a cold, hard fact,” United Nations Secretary-General Antóno Guterres has said.
