Heatwaves hit China – with forecasts of another hot summer to come
- One city in Hainan recorded 41.5 degrees Celsius on May 6, the highest in the province since weather records began
- ‘The development of an El Nino will most likely lead to a new spike in global heating and increase the chance of breaking temperature records’: Petteri Taalas of WMO
On Monday and Tuesday, large parts of northern China had temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), with areas in Shandong province in the east reaching 37 degrees.
The China Meteorological Administration (CMA) defines a heatwave as daily maximum temperatures higher than 35 degrees Celsius for more than three days.
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China braces for record heatwave as temperatures soar in Beijing and Shanghai
The heat in northern China followed record-high temperatures in the southern provinces of Hainan, Yunnan and Guangxi.
One city in China’s southernmost province of Hainan – Changjiang – recorded a temperature of 41.5 degrees Celsius on May 6, the highest in the province since weather records began.
Cities in Yunnan and Guangxi also recorded temperatures over 40 degrees on the same day.
This summer’s temperatures were expected to be near or above the average of previous years in most parts of China, Gao Hui, chief forecaster of the National Climate Centre, was quoted as saying on the CMA website on Monday.