China experienced its hottest summer since 1961 while its northern regions endured the longest rainy season in over six decades, the national weather authority said on Tuesday, in what scientists warn is another sign of accelerating climate change.
The so-called “Plum Rains”, named for coinciding with the ripening of plums along the Yangtze River, began a week earlier than usual this year, said Huang Zhou, deputy director of the China Meteorological Administration. At the same time, much of the country was scorched by prolonged extreme heat.
According to Huang, China logged an average of 13.7 high-temperature days between June and August, 5.7 more than normal. The national average temperature reached 22.3°C (72.1°F), 1.1°C above normal, tying with 2024 as the hottest summer since records began in 1961.
The twin assault of a persistent subtropical high-pressure system and a strong East Asian monsoon wreaked havoc across the world’s second-largest economy. Torrential rains from Southeast Asia triggered deadly floods that killed hundreds and caused billions of dollars in damage.
In late July, Beijing’s northern Huairou and Miyuan districts were deluged with a year’s worth of rain in a single week, unleashing flash floods that devastated villages and killed 44 people, the deadliest flooding since 2012.
China does not publish heat-related death figures, but a Lancet report estimated that 50,900 people in the country died from heatwaves in 2022, double the toll in 2021. Authorities fear the combination of floods, crop damage, and power grid strain will worsen economic and social pressures as extreme weather intensifies.
Globally, August 2025 was the third-warmest August on record, with average temperatures 0.49°C above the 1991–2020 baseline, the EU-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service said. The warmest Augusts were recorded in 2023 and 2024. Ocean temperatures have also soared, with much of the northern Pacific hitting record highs last month.
The escalating extremes highlight the growing climate crisis facing China, where policymakers must balance disaster prevention, energy demand, and food security against the backdrop of increasingly volatile weather.
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
