By Ryan Woo and Casey Hall
BEIJING (Reuters) -Beijing upgraded its hot weather warning on Friday to “red”, the highest in its colour-coded alert system, as many parts of the Chinese capital roasted in temperatures up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 F).
The official temperature, measured in Beijing’s southern suburbs, hit 40 degrees C just after 1:30 p.m. (0530 GMT) on Friday, to top out at 40.3 degrees C (104.54 F) by 4 p.m., the municipal observatory said.
“This is the first time since the establishment of the observatory that there has been a high temperature of more than 40 degrees C for two consecutive days,” Zhang Yingxin, its chief forecaster, told a press briefing.
The observatory was founded in 1951.
“The temperature outside is just too hot,” said a 28-year-old Beijing resident, surnamed Zhang, who works in the food and beverages sector.
“I’m definitely worried, but I think I’m still young and can handle it. But I hope that older people will go out as little as possible.”
On Thursday, the maximum temperature in the city of nearly 22 million breached 41 degrees C (105.8 F), shattering the record for the hottest day in June.
The southern suburbs weather station, considered to be Beijing’s main gauge, recorded a temperature of 41.1 degrees C (105.98 F) in the afternoon. The previous June high was 40.6 degrees C (105.08 F) on June 10, 1961.
Thursday’s daily maximum was Beijing’s second-highest in history, just below the 41.9 degrees C (107.42 F) registered on July 24, 1999.
China follows a four-tier weather warning system in which the colour red indicates the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue. A red alert signifies the temperature is set to rise above 40 degrees C (104°F) within 24 hours.
On Thursday, the China Meteorological Administration said it expected high temperatures to persist across much of the north for the next eight to ten days.
High temperature monitoring and warnings would continue on a rolling basis in places such as Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Henan and Inner Mongolia, it added.
In the northern port city of Tianjin, with a population of more than 13 million, the temperature reached 41.2 degrees C (106.16 F) on Thursday, smashing regional records.
Regional authorities warned on Friday against the health risks from the extended heat, advising people to drink at least 1.5 litres of water each day and limit time spent outdoors.
(Reporting by Ryan Woo and Casey Hall; Editing by Sonali Paul and Clarence Fernandez)
