Shanghai sizzles in 120-year high heat

A wave of warm weather rolled into Shanghai on Saturday, pushing temperatures up to 31.2 C, a 120-year record high for mid-April, according to a local weather station.

Cloudy weather and showers, starting on Sunday, will bring temperatures in the municipality down to around 27 C on Wednesday and 20 C on Saturday, according to forecasts.

The last time Shanghai's mid-April temperatures surged above 30 C was in 1896, when the mercury hit 33 C, said Kong Chunyan, chief service officer at the Shanghai Central Meteorological Station.