Hong Kong logs hottest day on record as Typhoon Dolphin drives up temperatures

Hong Kong's weather observatory announced on Sunday afternoon that the city had recorded a temperature of 36.9C, the highest since records began in 1884. It surpassed the previous record of 36.6C, set on 22 August 2017 just before Typhoon Hato struck the region.

The official figure is measured at the observatory's headquarters, but readings elsewhere in the densely built city were even higher, exceeding 39C. A weather station in Sheung Shui, in the city's north, logged 39.8C, the highest reading recorded since automatic weather stations were introduced in the 1980s.

Storm intensifies the heat

The extreme heat was driven by Typhoon Dolphin, which brought intense conditions to the region over the weekend as it approached. The observatory said the storm's outer subsiding air would keep bringing extremely hot weather to the territory through Tuesday. A "very hot weather warning" was issued on Sunday, urging residents to drink water and avoid strenuous outdoor activity.

Dolphin made landfall in mainland China near Yuhuan in Zhejiang province at around 5:30pm local time on Sunday, roughly 1,000km northeast of Hong Kong. At landfall, it carried maximum sustained winds of 151 km/h (94mph), comparable to a category 1 hurricane. Before making landfall, the storm's approach had already triggered widespread flight cancellations and evacuations along China's east coast.

Scientists note that human-driven climate change is making extreme heat events more frequent and severe worldwide.