Parts of China upgrade hot weather alert to highest level

Multiple major observatories in Beijing, Tianjin, as well as Hebei and Shandong provinces, registered record-shattering temperatures on Thursday, said the China Meteorological Administration. 　

Early Friday morning, the National Meteorological Center renewed an orange alert for high temperatures: the midlevel of a three-tier, color-coded warning system.

Beijing, the capital, upgraded its warning for hot weather to red, the highest level, on Friday morning. It was the first time for the city to issue the highest alert since adopting the new categorization protocol in June 2015. 　

At 2 p.m. on Friday, the ground temperature in Beijing reached around 63℃. 　

The administration forecast that heatwaves will continue for 10 days in Beijing, Tianjin and other parts of North China, as well as some regions in Henan and Anhui provinces.