HONG KONG: Hong Kong has broken two heat records in less than a week for September, the city’s meteorological observatory said on Tuesday, as the crowded financial center swelters during one of its hottest summers on record.
The Hong Kong Observatory said a temperature of 35.4 degrees Celsius (95.7 Fahrenheit) was recorded on Tuesday afternoon, “once again breaking the record for the highest temperature in September” since the city began keeping records in 1884. was
The previous high of 35.3C was set last Monday, breaking the record set since 1963.
“Due to dry air from mainland (China), we expect sunny and warm weather from this week to early next week,” the observatory added.
Southern China last month recorded its longest stretch of consistently high temperatures since records began more than 60 years ago, with power cuts and drought hitting the agricultural and manufacturing sectors.
Experts have said the intensity, scope and duration of the heat wave could make it one of the most severe on record in global history, with temperatures reaching a normal 40 degrees Celsius in many provinces last month.
Those temperatures in mainland China have since dropped.
Extremely humid Hong Kong experiences less extreme heat than the mainland but still experiences hot summers.
July was the city’s hottest month on record, with an average temperature of 29.2 degrees Celsius from June to August, making it the fourth hottest summer on record.
High temperatures are particularly punishing for the 220,000 poorest residents who live in cramped thatched shacks or small subdivided apartments and “cage homes” that often have limited or no air conditioning.
