China is on red alert for high heat with temperatures hovering around 40C in a large northern part of the country on Friday, particularly in Beijing, which broke a heat record the previous day.
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High summer temperatures are not uncommon in China, particularly in the dry west and south of the country.
Residents of the capital Beijing are also used to the heat at this time of year.
But the country has faced extreme weather conditions and locally unusual temperatures in recent months, which scientists say have been exacerbated by climate change.
A 185 red alert was issued Friday morning over a large northern and eastern district of China, which includes Beijing, the eastern metropolis of Tianjin and the neighboring provinces of Hebei and Shandong.
Red alert is the highest meteorological level in China.
It is the first time it has come into force in Beijing since 2014, with temperatures likely to hit 40C again, weather services said.
AFP
The Chinese capital recorded 41.1°C on Thursday, the hottest day in June since weather records began in 1961.
“This weather is not human and it’s just the month of June!” writes a user on the Weibo social network, in line with other comments.
On the streets of Beijing on Friday, residents moved with their faces fully covered in masks to protect themselves from the sun and wore a large-brimmed hat.
Along the city’s canals, some tried to escape the heat by splashing in the water.
In the coastal province of Shandong, which borders the Yellow Sea, the temperature even reached 43 °C locally on Thursday, according to the weather service.
According to local media, 17 national weather stations broke temperature records.
The severe heat is expected to last at least eight days in north and east China, the weather services warned on Friday.