More than a dozen major Chinese cities have seen temperatures hit record seasonal highs this week, with central China's Wuhan and Zhengzhou at more than 10 degrees Celsius (18F) higher than normal for early March, official data showed.
Wuhan, located on the middle reaches of the Yangtze river, registered temperatures of 26 Celsius on Monday, 12 degrees higher than the long-term early March average, while Beijing and surrounding cities also saw temperatures reach 22-25 Celsius earlier this week.
China experienced months of extreme heat last year, with 267 weather stations measuring record-breaking temperatures in excess of 40 degrees during a 70-day summer drought that hit the entire Yangtze river basin, triggering fires and damaging crops.
