Shanghai hits record high temperatures

Shanghai experienced its hottest day on record on Friday, as the temperature surged to 40.9 C.

The highest temperature was reported at 1:59 pm on Friday, shortly after the Shanghai Meteorological Service issued the first red alert for high temperature this year. The temperature also broke the 145-year-old record kept by the meteorological station in the Xujiahui area.

The previous record was 40.8 C on Aug 7, 2013.