Hong Kong was struck by the hottest July day in 48 years over the weekend, with temperatures of 37 degrees Celsius and higher recorded in multiple districts on Saturday.
The highest recorded temperature of the day was in Happy Valley, with a maximum temperature reading of 37.9 degrees, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.
Bolts of lightning as seen from Cheung Chau. Photo: Martin Williams/HK Outdoors
The sweltering summer day was concluded with two epic thunderstorms which saw a whopping 10,000 lightning bolts strike the city overnight.
The HKO issued a thunderstorm warning at 6:45pm on Saturday and warned people who were outdoors to seek shelter and get off high ground.
A total of 5905 bolts of cloud-to-ground lightning strikes, mostly contained to Lantau Island and the eastern New Territories, were recorded by the HKO on Saturday evening.
Striking lightning bolts as seen from Cheung Chau. Photo: Martin Williams/HK Outdoors
Delighted netizens posted photos and videos on social media of the night sky punctuated by searing flashes of lightning.
The storm continued well after midnight, with 4095 bolts recorded in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Tam Yee-ting, a scientific officer for the HKO, told SCMP that the high temperatures had sparked the dramatic lightshow, with the rising heat creating “unstable air” in the atmosphere.
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