Orange heat alert issued by weather authorities

An orange heat alert, the second-highest in a four-tier system, was issued by the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau at 12:45pm on Thursday.

The high temperature recorded at the Xujiahui meteorological center in downtown Xuhui District was 36.8 degrees Celsius, which is the hottest day this year so far, the meteorological bureau showed. Today is also the third day above 35 degrees this year.

Since the longest plum rain season (42 days) in two decades ended on Monday, the city has said goodbye to rainstorms but welcomed a wave of scorching weather.

The high temperature is expected to ease to 29 degrees on Friday, with showers in some parts of the city, followed by highs above 30 for the rest of the week, the bureau showed.