Hong Kong braces for Friday scorcher as mercury climbs to 33.7 degrees

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing.Hong Kong recorded its hottest day of the year so far as the mercury hit 33.7 degrees Celsius (92.7 Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, with the Observatory warning that temperatures in parts of the city could reach a scorching 37 degrees on Friday.The highest temperature was logged at the Observatory’s Tsim Sha Tsui headquarters on Wednesday afternoon, as a “very hot weather” warning remained in force throughout the day.“An anticyclone aloft will bring extremely hot weather to Guangdong in the next couple of days,” the forecaster said.“With a trough of low pressure edging closer to the coast of southern China, there will be showers and squally thunderstorms over the region later on Friday to Saturday.”According to the Observatory, it will remain very hot on Thursday, with the mercury hitting around 34 degrees in urban areas and climbing a couple of degrees higher in the New Territories, accompanied by moderate south to southwesterly winds.It also warned that the maximum UV Index for Thursday would reach 11, the highest level on the scale, meaning ultraviolet radiation intensity would be extreme.The heatwave is expected to peak on Friday, triggering an “extremely hot” daytime forecast.“Temperatures will reach 36 to 37 degrees in the New Territories with a few showers and thunderstorms later. There will still be a few showers and high-temperature weather will be alleviated on Saturday and Sunday,” the forecaster said.It added that an easterly airstream would affect the coast of Guangdong province over the weekend, slightly alleviating the hot weather.However, a broad trough of low pressure is expected to bring unsettled weather to the central part of the South China Sea early to midweek next week, according to the Observatory.Further Reading