Brutal heatwave strikes China’s Guangdong, Hebei provinces

A heatwave has scorched north China‘s Hebei Province and east China’s Guangdong Province, adding pressure to the power grids and forcing the provinces’ meteorological observatories to issue alerts.

The Meteorological Observatory of Hebei Province on Tuesday issued an orange alert for high temperatures, the second-highest warning in China’s four-tier weather warning system.

In the city of Xingtai, the highest temperature reached 39 degrees Celsius, forcing pedestrians to arm themselves with hats and sun-protective clothing.

In Handan City, the temperatures in most places surpassed 37C. In Cixian County of the city, measurements of the actual temperature of pavement surfaces reached 60C. Sprinkler trucks sprayed water to help reduce the temperature.

“Today is extremely hot. It felt sultry when getting outside. I have taken all the measures to protect myself from the sun, such as sunscreens and hats,” said a resident of the county.

In Guangdong Province, power use has continued to rise since June. Many cities saw record-breaking power consumption last weekend due to the high temperatures.

The unified power load dispatch of the province also broke historical records three times this year, reaching 112.5 million kilowatts, up 3.25 percent from the highest record of last year.