North and central China hit by soaring heat

Temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius scorched parts of northern and central China on Tuesday with authorities issuing heat warnings and offering aid to farmers to protect food production.

Temperatures in China's northern Hebei province, Henan province, a key wheat-producing region known as China's granary, and the eastern province of Shandong all reached 40 degrees Celsius on Tuesday.

In Zhengzhou, Henan province and Shahe, Hebei province, the mercury soared to highs of between 41 C and 42.9 C on Monday, their highest ever for the month of May, authorities said.

The high temperatures are expected to continue until Wednesday, the country's National Meteorological Centre said.

China is facing hotter and longer heat waves and more frequent and unpredictable heavy rain as a result of climate change. The country is especially vulnerable to global warming, authorities have said, because of its huge population.

Chinese meteorological data show 2024 was the warmest year for the country since comparable records began over six decades ago, the second straight year in which milestones were broken.

Last year's warmer weather was accompanied by stronger storms and higher rainfall and led to spikes in power consumption in China, the world's second-largest economy.

The National Meteorological Centre on Tuesday issued a yellow warning for high temperatures. The centre has a three-tier, colour warning system for high temperatures, with red being the most severe, followed by orange and yellow. In Zhengzhou, Henan's capital, large sprinkler trucks and sprinklers were used to cool down urban areas, state broadcaster CCTV reported. In Lanling county, in the south of Shandong province, agricultural experts were instructing vegetable farmers to ventilate their plants using sheds and water spraying, CCTV said. In Shanxi, authorities issued an orange heat warning and implemented water spraying to cool down many parts of the northern province, known for its coal production.

Cold air moving from west to east will cool much of China's north on Thursday and Friday, with a drop of 6-12 C.

In China's southern Jiangxi more than 100 mm of rainfall was recorded across much of the province.

Last weekend, heavy rains in China's southern Guangdong and Guangxi provinces killed at least six people and disrupted trains and power supply, with alerts issued for severe flooding and geological disasters in parts of the country.