Hong Kong has recorded its hottest ever New Year’s Eve with the temperature reaching 25.7 degrees Celsius at the city’s Observatory on Sunday.
“The maximum temperature recorded at the Observatory was 25.7 degrees, the highest temperature on New Year’s Eve on record since 1884,” the Observatory said in a weather bulletin issued soon after 1 pm on Sunday.
Visibility was also low across the city, with Swiss air quality company IQAir recording a level of air pollution that was “unhealthy for sensitive groups” on Sunday. That followed warnings from the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) that some air quality monitoring stations on Saturday were expected to reach “very high” or “serious” levels amid “higher than normal air pollution levels.
“Under the influence of a dry continental airstream, the weather in Hong Kong today is mainly fine,” an EPD statement read. “Light wind is unfavourable for pollutant dispersion. The intense sunshine enhances photochemical smog activity leading to rapid formation of ozone and fine particulates in the Pearl River Delta region.”
When a very high level of air pollution is recorded, people are advised to reduce their time spent outdoors, while it is recommended that children, the elderly and those with certain health conditions reduce or cease outdoor activities.
On December 12, the maximum temperature was 28.7 degrees Celsius, the highest for a December day since 1953. The lowest temperature recorded at the Observatory last month was 8.1 degrees, on December 23.
According to the Observatory, the mean temperature last month was 19.1 degrees, 0.9 degrees higher than normal, while the mean maximum temperature of 21.6 degrees was 1.2 degrees above normal.
Several weather-related records were broken in 2023, including the amount of hourly rainfall, when 158.1 millimetres poured down between 11pm and midnight on September 7. That resulted in widespread flooding and several landslides.
The historic downpour also contributed to September’s record-breaking total rainfall of 1067.1 millimetres, more than three times the monthly normal of 321.4 millimetres.
Hong Kong also saw its hottest summer since records began in 1884, reaching an average temperature of 29.7 from June to August.
Climate experts told HKFP last year that recent extreme weather events were a reminder that “climate change is really here,” adding that typhoons and temperatures would become more intense.
Among them, biological scientist Michael Boyle found that Hong Kong’s wealthier districts would warm at a slower rate than its poorest areas, leaving those living in low-income neighbourhoods at greater risk of exposure to heat considered dangerous to human survival.
Cooler, brighter weather was forecast for the latter part of this week, with milder temperatures expected during the day.
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