North China bakes under searing heatwave

BEIJING: An extreme heat warning was in place in Beijing on Tuesday, with temperatures soaring across northern China as a swathe of the northern hemisphere baked under record highs.

China is the biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases that scientists say are driving climate change and longer, hotter heatwaves.

On Tuesday authorities in Beijing issued an orange alert for extreme heat, the second-highest level in a four-tier system.

They warned that the mercury could climb as high as 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in some parts of the capital.

The municipal government urged residents to reduce time spent outdoors, drink plenty of water and monitor children, pregnant women and the elderly for signs of heatstroke.

Over 20 weather stations in the northern province of Hebei and the eastern province of Shandong posted local heat records for early June on Monday afternoon, the state-run China National Radio (CNR) reported, citing the national weather office.

And high temperatures of up to 42C are forecast to persist until Friday across northern, northwestern and central areas, including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shaanxi, Hubei, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, according to the national weather office.

But heavy downpours were expected further south, with up to 70 millimetres of rain threatening parts of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces on Tuesday and Wednesday, the weather office said.