China's Extreme Weather: High Heat In Eastern Region, Heavy Rain In The South

China's BEIJING - in the eastern region experienced high heat waves with several regions recording a record temperature of more than 42 degrees Celsius.

China is experiencing extreme summers, with unusual heat in the northern and eastern regions. Meanwhile heavy rains caused floods and landslides in the central and southern regions.

The Chinese Meteorology Agency said the country's 10 hottest cities on Saturday, August 3, 2024 afternoon were all in eastern Zhejiang province, with Zhuji City recording the highest temperature of 42.3 degrees Celsius which is expected to stay in the region until next week.

Meanwhile, Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, recorded a temperature of 41.9 degrees Celsius at around 14.30 yesterday. This is the highest temperature in the history of city monitoring, surpassing the record 41.8 degrees Celsius recorded in August 2022.

The Chinese Meteorology Agency estimates that Hangzhou will continue to set new temperature records.

"I feel like I'm going to melt," commented one Chinese social media user.

"Who still thinks Hangzhou is the ideal place to live again?" write another account.

Hangzhou has a population of 12.5 million people and is the gateway to China's main technology.

"It's so hot, it looks like it's on fire," said Wang, a 60-year-old tourist, who came to Hangzhou from Hebei's cooler northern province.

"I was soaking wet by sweat. It was windy, but it was still hot," he complained.

In Shanghai City, the afternoon temperature on August 3 exceeds 40 degrees Celsius, close to a record 40.9 degrees Celsius. Shanghai authorities on August 1 issued their first red weather warning this year, after the city recorded temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius, Hangzhou City took a similar action on August 2.

The red warning is the highest level in three levels of weather warning scale in China. The country has an average air temperature in July of 23.21 degrees Celsius, the hottest temperature in July since full monitoring began in 1961.