Eastern China is enduring an unprecedentedly summer, with the city of Hangzhou logging its highest ever temperature on Saturday afternoon, Channel News Asia reported. The mercury hit 41.9 degrees Celsius, breaking the previous record – set in August 2022 – by 0.1 degrees.
Hangzhou in Zhejiang province is a technology hub that’s home to 12.5 million people. All of China’s 10 hottest cities on Saturday were located in Zhejiang, with the small city of Zhuji recording the highest temperature: 42.3 degrees Celsius.
High temperatures have been forecast to stick around over the coming week and more records were expected to be broken, according to the province’s weather authority. Warnings of heatstroke were in place in many cities.
[See more: Extreme weather events in Macao are on the rise, says top weather official]
Less than 200 kilometres north of Hangzhou, Shanghai logged a temperature of 40 degrees Celsius on Saturday – 0.9 degrees off its record.
While the hot weather is affecting many areas in China, summer has brought typhoons and torrential rain to the country’s central and southern regions, resulting in severe flooding, landslides, mass displacement and deaths.
According to scientists, China can expect more severe weather events as a result of global warming. Locally, between five and eight typhoons are predicted to come within 500 kilometres of the Pearl River Delta in 2024 – an above-normal level, according to weather forecasters. Macao’s meteorology department issued an orange hot weather alert that remained in effect on Monday morning, as temperatures are expected to exceed 36 degrees Celsius.
