China issued its highest-level heat alert for northern parts of the country on Friday as the capital baked in temperatures hovering around 40˚C (104˚F).
A day earlier Beijing logged its hottest June day since records began with the mercury edging up to 41.1˚C, breaking a record set in 1961.
In the coastal province of Shandong, which borders the Yellow Sea, the temperature reached 43˚C on Thursday, according to China’s meteorological service.