Citizens in Urumqi, Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Region walk outside with their faces fully covered on July 18, 2025. Photo: IC

As many as 152 national-level meteorological observation stations across China have recorded high temperatures exceeding 40 C since the beginning of July, China Meteorological Administration (CMA) announced on Wednesday, noting the duration of high temperature days and extreme high temperatures may surpass historical records for the same period, as the heatwave is expected to continue. 

Statistics from the National Climate Center under the CMA show that since July 11, high temperature days of 40 C and above mainly occurred in the southeastern Shaanxi Province, central and western Hubei Province, northeastern and western Chongqing Municipality, eastern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and western Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, covering an area of 407,000 square kilometers, the CMA announced at a Wednesday briefing. 

Among these meteorological observation stations that recorded high temperatures of 40 C and above, a total of 102 stations set new records for the highest daily temperature in July. 

Moreover, 32 stations broke their historical records. Stations such as the Dongkan in Turpan, Xinjiang recorded 48.7 C, Xingping in Shaanxi recorded 43.1 C, and Badong in Hubei recorded 42.9 C. 

Intermittent heatwaves are expected to continue in the southern part of North China, the Huanghuai region and southern China in late July. 

In early to mid-August, intermittent high temperatures will also affect areas including Hebei, Shandong, Anhui, the Sichuan-Chongqing region, the eastern Northwest China, western Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang. 

In some parts of central East China, the central part of Central China, the eastern part of Southwest China and southern Xinjiang, the highest temperatures may exceed historical averages for the same period. However, the likelihood of these heatwaves’ duration surpassing the historical extremes for the same period is relatively low. 

Global Times