Hong Kong Set For Sizzling Year, Forecasters Warn

If you were complaining how warm this winter was, you have more bad news coming: Hong Kong could be in for one of its hottest years on record.

Hong Kong Observatory director Shun Chi-ming said on Thursday that the average temperature in Hong Kong this year is most likely to be in the top five on record because of climate change.

Last year, the annual mean temperature was 23.9 Celsius, which was the third warmest on record.

There were only three days during the past winter when temperatures dipped below 12 degrees Celsius. Shun said this could come down to just one day every winter in a few years' time.

The rise in sea temperatures means that super typhoons, like Mangkhut which shook the city last September, are more likely in the region.

The observatory is expecting four to seven tropical cyclones to come within 500 kilometres of the SAR this year.