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The record temperature was recorded at a meteorological station in the city’s Xujiahui area, the municipal meteorological center said, adding that the temperature was the highest recorded in the 140 years since the city started keeping records.
The previous record was set in 1934, when a temperature of 40.2 degrees Celsius was recorded. The city issued a red high temperature alert on Friday.
“It felt hard to breathe with the temperature so high,” said Huang Wenfang, a tourist from the cooler Northeast China. “I planned to stay a few days more in Shanghai but now I have changed my mind.”
The city’s swimming pools, seaside areas and air-conditioned public facilities saw large crowds on Sunday. Due to safety concerns, some water parks had to turn people away.
“We had to ask some swimmers to come back an hour later,” said a ticket seller at a swimming pool attached to the Shanghai International Gymnastics Center.
The neighboring city of Hangzhou, capital of east China’s Zhejiang Province, experienced a record-high temperature of 40.4 degrees Celsius on Thursday.
China uses a three-tier color-coded warning system for high temperatures, with red representing the hottest weather, followed by orange and yellow.
