People enjoy street strolls amid unseasonal heat

If you walked the streets of Shanghai today you would have seen blended dress styles from different seasons as the weather surged to a record-breaking warmth with some stations' mercury hitting around 30 degrees Celsius, nearly 10 degrees higher than yesterday.

The highest temperature that the city's benchmark, Xujiahui Weather Station, recorded was 28 degrees, the hottest day in early March since the station was set up in 1872, according to the data from local meteorological officials.

The Yichuan Road Weather Station reported Saturday's maximum temperatures at 30.1 degrees, followed by the Xiangyang Road Park Weather Station's 29.9 degrees and Kangjianxincun Weather Station's 29.8 degrees.

A total of 20 weather stations in downtown areas reported the high exceeding 29 degrees.

In addition, all weather stations in suburban areas have broken their historical records for the same period since their establishment.

Not fully prepared for the quick weather change, with lows around 12 degrees in the morning and nearly 30 degrees midday, people dressed like they were in different seasons. Some were still in down jackets while some had already put on short-sleeve T-shirts.

The sunny weather also brought many people outdoors to enjoy the sunshine, with parks filled with children, pets and laughter.

However, on Sunday night a new round of strong cold air is around the corner along with gale-force wind and thunder showers, forecasters said.

The mercury is predicted to see a sharp drop on Monday morning with the temperature plunging to 10-13 degrees. And the rainfall on Monday will reach moderate to heavy level.

Tuesday will be colder with temperature ranging between 7 and 9 degrees.

The cold and wet weather is forecast to remain in the city until next weekend, when the temperatures will bounce back to around 15 degrees.