China’s capital Beijing has broken its record for hours of sub-zero temperatures in December dating back to 1951, after a cold wave swept swathes of the country and brought blizzards in its wake, sending temperatures towards historic lows.
Northern and northeastern parts of the country have experienced a record-breaking chill since last week, with some areas in the northeast hitting -40° Celsius (-40° Fahrenheit) and below as biting cold air flowed down from the Arctic.
As of the weekend, a weather observatory in Beijing had recorded more than 300 hours of below-freezing temperatures since December 11, the most for the month since records began in 1951, according to state-backed Beijing Daily.
The capital has also endured nine consecutive days of temperatures below -10C (14F) in this period, the Beijing Daily added.