Beijing records longest cold wave since 1951

BEIJING: China’s Beijing recorded the longest cold wave since records began in 1951 as the freezing temperature and snowfall experienced in the Chinese capital and elsewhere began to ease, CNN reported.

The temperature recorded at Beijing’s Nanjiao weather station rose to above zero degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) on Sunday afternoon for the first time in days, Chinese local media, Beijing Daily stated.

“Since the temperature first dropped to below zero degrees on December 11, the temperature had remained below that line for more than 300 hours,” Beijing Daily wrote.

This month, a strong cold wave swept through most of China and pushed the heat capacity of some cities in northern China to its limit, reported CNN.

Following this severe coldwave, China’s central province of Henan has seen multiple system failures.

In Jiaozuo City, heating was partially halted after a malfunction at the Wanfang power plant on Friday.

However, the problem was solved on Saturday and heating is expected to resume Sunday night, according to the official newspaper of the city, Jiaozuo Daily.

Moreover, two other cities in the province, Puyang and Pingdingshan, have cut heating to most government buildings and state-owned enterprises since Friday to “prioritise limited heating resources for hospitals, schools and residential buildings,” the two cities’ governments said in a statement.

The biting weather in the capital, Beijing, started days ago and has also caused issues with the city’s metro system, according to CNN.

Hundreds of commuters and dozens of people with fractured bones were sent to the hospital in Beijing earlier this month after two trains collided on a busy metro line during snowy conditions, the city’s transportation authority stated.

Additionally, the freezing temperatures also hampered rescue efforts as a deadly earthquake occurred this month in northwest Gansu province of China.