The mid-June temperature record was broken in Beijing on Friday, when 39.4C was measured in the Chinese capital as part of the country suffered from a heatwave.
High summer temperatures are not uncommon in China, particularly in the dry west and south of the country.
To a lesser extent, Beijing residents are also used to the heat at this time of year.
But China has been grappling with extreme weather conditions and locally abnormal temperatures in recent months, exacerbated by climate change, scientists say.
“Around 2:30 p.m. (6:30 GMT), the temperature at the observatory in the southern suburbs of Beijing reached 39.4 °C, breaking the record set in mid-June,” the China Meteorological Service said.
The precedent dates back to June 13, 2000 (39.1 °C), he said on the Weibo social network.
The announcement comes as the city of Beijing is on orange alert over severe heat, the second-highest heat level in China, while parts of neighboring Hebei province are on red alert.
Temperatures in Beijing will remain high for the next three days and are expected to reach at least 37C, according to weather services.
“The public should reduce their outdoor activities and watch out for heat stroke,” they pleaded.
“blowout»
In the Chinese capital, the temperature on the bitumen locally exceeded 50°C, which could “easily damage roads” and cause “tire bursts,” warned a meteorologist quoted by the official China News agency.
Eight provincial capitals recorded their highest temperatures of the year on Thursday, according to New China.
Last month, the economic metropolis of Shanghai experienced the hottest May day in more than a century (36.1°C).
And China last year experienced its hottest August since records began in 1961, after weeks of a heatwave of unprecedented proportions.
The UN has warned that due to the combined effect of greenhouse gases and the El Niño weather phenomenon, the period 2023-2027 will almost certainly be the hottest period on Earth on record.
Global temperatures are expected to soon surpass the Paris Climate Agreement’s most ambitious target, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has warned.
Part of China experienced an unusually harsh winter earlier in the year.
This broke a cold record in the city of Mohe (-53°C) on the border with Russia.