Hong Kong - Hong Kong has had its hottest ever February as well as its warmest New Year Day on record, weathermen said Friday as evidence of global warming mounts in the former British colony.
The average temperature of 19.5 degrees is the highest ever recorded and there were 32 hours more sunshine than usual with 129.6 clocked up, the Hong Kong Observatory said.
Only 6.9 millimetres of rainfall was recorded, just one seventh of the normal figure of 48 millimetres, an official added.
In mid-February, Hong Kong had its hottest ever Lunar New Year with temperatures on the first day of the Year of the Pig climbing above 25 degrees Celsius.
Temperatures during February are traditionally chilly in Hong Kong, which sits in a sub-tropical belt on the southern fringe of China, before rising from March onwards.
However, global warming has seen winter temperatures climb in recent years along with the arrival of a number of species of migratory birds which normally spend winter further south.
