Hong Kong pollution hits highest rating on hottest day of the year
Hundreds of flights cancelled or disrupted as super typhoon Nepartak slams Taiwan
Pollution levels across Hong Kong hit the government’s highest rating on the hottest day of the year on Friday, while Taiwan and eastern China continued to feel the force of severe typhoon Nepartak.
Murk and haze obscured the view across Victoria Harbour as air quality indicators at pollution monitoring stations clocked the highest “serious” category at all sites except the remote island of Tap Mun near Sai Kung which registered as “very high”.
“The intense sunshine enhances photochemical smog activities and the formation of ozone, resulting in high pollution in the region,” the Environmental Protection Department said.
Children, old people and those with heart or respiratory illnesses were advised to avoid or minimise exercise and outdoor activity.
As the chance of a tropical cyclone warning diminished, the Observatory recorded readings of 37 degrees Celsius throughout the afternoon in Ta Kwu Ling in the New Territories. Temperatures climbed to 36 degrees in Causeway Bay and Happy Valley.
Hundreds of flights steered clear of the path of super typhoon Nepartak as the eye of the storm made landfall on Friday morning, battering the southern tip of Taiwan.