Heat Wave Around the World: New Record Again for Shanghai, Austria and Hungary; UK Advised to Brace for Scorcher
All around the world, the smoldering heat wave continues to break and set records from end to end of the globe.
On Thursday, China's Shanghai broke its own record to register a new one that was minted only two weeks ago. The city's meteorological bureau announced that on August 7, Shanghai's temperature hit 40.8ºC (105.4ºF), breaking the 40.6ºC (105.1ºF) set on both July 26 and August 6, 2013.
The new figure likewise broke the city's 1934 record of 104.4ºF.
Austria likewise gave off new temperature records on Thursday at 40.5ºC (105ºF), a notch above the 39.9ºC (104ºF) set five days earlier. Temperatures in Hungary were a tad lower on Thursday at 40ºC, but officials nonetheless have issued a heat warning.
A number of Hungarian government offices have issued relaxed dress codes for employees. Men employees may now undo for the moment the formal ties and jackets, while women are being given the option to wear or not the close-fitting pantyhose legwear.
South Korea's Ulsan also set new record temperatures on Thursday, hitting 38.8ºC, now considered the city's highest official temperature since weather data were first compiled 81 years ago.
Residents in UK meantime have been advised to brace for a new scorcher that could topple last week's 34.2ºC (94ºF). Weather forecasters said a new swathe of hot air is currently forming from the Continent and as this moves closer to the UK, current records could get broken by the end of next week.
People around the world are being advised to take necessary precautions against hyperthermia or deaths due to heat wave.
"Hyperthermia can progress rapidly, and many persons might not be aware of the warning signs, including lack of sweating in late-stage illness," health researchers at the New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene wrote in a report.
Hyperthermia occurs when a person's body takes up more heat than it dispels, leading to dangerously high body temperatures that must be immediately attended by medical authorities.
One sign of hyperthermia is when the body fails to cool down through sweating, or the skin getting dry. Headaches, dizziness and nausea are also other symptoms.