High temperatures lingering over north China in the past several days have inconvenienced people's daily lives and led to a big jump in power and water consumption.
Dubbed as a "heater," Jinan, capital of Shandong Province, reported a record high temperature of 40.9 degrees Celsius on Thursday after temperatures of over 36 degrees gripped the city during the previous week.
According to the provincial meteorological station yesterday, high temperatures in excess of 40 degrees were also reported in the northwest and central parts of Shandong on Thursday, while the mercury in other parts of the province also touched 37 degrees and above.
To reduce the threat of the baking heat, education authorities of Jinan have ordered primary schools to suspend classes and only morning classes remained normal in junior middle schools.
The local government also urged enterprises to stop outdoor operations when the temperature reaches 37 degrees and higher.
High temperatures have prevailed over most parts of north China, including Shandong, Hebei, Shanxi, and Henan provinces, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions in the past week.
Sustained heat waves have rolled across Beijing since early this week, leading to a slight power shortage, according to the Beijing Power Co.
The municipality used 9.89 million kilowatts of electricity by 4:55pm on Thursday, a record high of daily electric power consumption in the capital.
It is forecast that Beijing's daily electric power consumption will hit 10.7 million kw this summer, 1.264 million kw more than last year.
Beijing power authorities have warned local residents to take measures to save electricity and local enterprises are required to avoid power use during peak hours.
The soaring heat has also led to a hike in water consumption in the city. Beijing used 2.409 million cubic meters of water on Thursday, the second biggest daily water consumption in the city's history.
High temperatures, less rainfall and an ensuing drought have hit Shanxi since the beginning of June.
According to the provincial headquarters for flood control and drought relief, sustained drought has affected 1.47 million hectares of farmland, 34.66 million hectares of which are seriously affected.
But relief from the sizzling temperatures and dry air is expected today as rainfall is forecast for most parts of the scorched region, according to the Chinese Meteorological Administration.