As China stepped into sanfu, the dog days of summer, on Tuesday, the National Meteorological Center extended an orange alert - the second-highest alert - for high temperatures, as heatwaves scorch vast swathes of the country.
Meteorologists warned that persistent stifling temperatures, after a slight decline this week, are expected to last until the end of this month. They expressed concern over electricity shortages in China because of the persisting heatwave and suggested "rational power consumption" be practiced among the public.
Sanfu refers to the hottest days of the year according to the Chinese calendar. The sanfu period this year is predicted to last 40 days.
During daylight hours on Tuesday, temperatures in some places in provinces of North China, Northwest China, Central China and East China reached 35 C, according to the National Meteorological Center.
According to forecasts for the week, in some areas of Hebei, Henan, Zhejiang and Yunnan provinces, temperatures may surpass 40 C.
The beginning of July this year was the hottest week on record for the planet, according to early findings on Monday from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The series of scorching days saw global temperature records fall one after another.
