Shanghai is currently witnessing its coldest December period in forty years as the Chinese financial hub faced weather warnings of low temperatures and strong winds on Thursday, marking the onset of a prolonged cold spell.
According to the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau’s Weibo social media account, the city’s outskirts saw temperatures plummet to between minus 4 and minus 6 degrees Celsius, with the mercury staying below zero throughout the day across Shanghai.
Wang Kaiyun, 59, a cleaner commuting from the city’s suburbs to downtown Shanghai on an electric scooter, endured a bone-chilling ride in minus 5-degree weather on Thursday. “Despite wearing gloves, my hands quickly lost sensation, and they still ache,” Wang remarked.
Although Shanghai’s temperatures remained considerably milder than those in northern China, where several provinces have faced historically low temperatures in recent weeks, the prolonged cold spell was unusual for the city.
The Shanghai weather bureau predicted that one of the downtown recording stations will witness temperatures below zero for five consecutive days until Dec 2, marking the beginning of cold streak in December, unseen for four decades.
