By Steff GaulterIt’s certainly been hot in Shanghai recently. Someone even cooked a slab of meat on the pavements. Apparently in just 10 minutes it was cooked to medium-well perfection! Central China is usually a hot place in summer, but not this hot. Previous temperature records are falling like dominoes. In Shanghai, there are usually 10 days in July and August when the temperatures sneak above 35 C (95 F). This year there were quite a few more than that, 27 to be exact. This is far more than in previous years. In July last year there were 10 such days and in 2010 there were only five. As you might expect, this means that the average temperature was a lot higher this July, with the average maximum being 37C (99F), far above the average of 31.6C (88.9F).We’ve now entered August and the heat hasn’t shown any signs of letting up. The maximum daily temperature did briefly drop to 35C on the second of the month, but it’s since shot back up again. This is causing major problems in the city. It’s not a city like Doha, which is built for driving. Shanghai is built for walking, there’s an underground subway system that transports millions of people every day, and I do mean millions. March 9, 2013 was its busiest day, with an incredible 8.486mn journeys undertaken.In Shanghai, people tend to be outside far more than in Doha, so the consequences of the heat have been felt more severely. More than 10 people have died due to the heat, and hospitals are reporting a large increase in admissions for heatstroke. It’s not just Shanghai which is sweltering either, many other eastern parts of China are also suffering. The highest temperature recorded during this heatwave were in the city of Fenghua, approximately 200km (125 miles) to the south of Shanghai, which recorded its highest ever temperature of 42.7C (108.9F) on July 24. Across the region, cities are straining under the heat; in the nearby city of Ningbo, glass has cracked in the heat and a highway advertising hoarding spontaneously caught fire.As you might expect, farmers are also suffering. Although the weather can be hot at this time of year, it’s also usually still quite wet. As much as 128mm (5.0 inches) of rain is expected in July in Shanghai, so although it’s hot, usually it is still possible to grow rice and tea. This year, however, there’s not been enough rain either. Shanghai received 100.9mm (3.9 inches) of rain in July, far below the average, and when the weather is hotter, the plants need more water. Tea and rice are the main crops of the region at this time of year, but many of the plants have simply shrivelled up. Nearly 6mn people in southern China are now said to be without water, as are more than 1.7mn farm animals. Normally, China has plenty of rain, brought by the summer monsoon. A band of rain forms across southern China in May, then extends eastwards across Taiwan. This then pushes north, reaching the Yangtze River around mid-June. It’s known as the Meiyu Rains and in Shanghai would normally last for about a month from June to July. These rains are vitally important to the region and bring about 25% of the city’s annual total. As well as being weaker this year, the rains were also been ahead of schedule. The largest influence on the speed and intensity of the Meiyu rains is the area of high pressure that sets up over the northern Pacific in the summer months. Its strength and exact position determine how much moisture is pushed into southeast Asia and therefore has a major effect on heavy the rains are. This year the high pressure was more intense than usual, which is thought to be a result of the sea surface temperatures in the Sea of Japan being above average. This temperature increase is believed to have intensified the high pressure, causing it to dominate the weather across the Shanghai region.On Wednesday, August 7, it was officially ‘autumn begins’ (Li Qui) in the traditional Chinese solar terms, but sadly, even the onset of autumn didn’t suppress the heat in Shanghai. As the temperature stubbornly soared to 41C (106F), people were reminded that it was illegal to issue weather alerts independently of the relevant meteorological authority. The punishment is a 50,000 yuan ($8,100) fine. This reminder was almost certainly an attempt to calm fears that this heatwave will continue indefinitely. I just hope that any money collected in fines will be used to supply water to the people who need it.Without wishing to risk a forecasting fine, it does look like the weather is finally expected to break in eastern China in the next week or so. This will allow more thunderstorms to develop, which will reduce the temperature. However, thunderstorms are unlikely to provide enough rain to help the farmers. The next significant rain will be in September, when the Meiyu rains retreat southwards again. Unfortunately, the retreat of the Meiyu rains is more rapid than the onset. This means the rains in September are far shorter than those earlier in the year, but with the current water shortage in the region, any rain at all would be gratefully received.