Hong Kong sees warmest winter on record, with only 5 cold days

2026-03-04 - 05:05

The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) has said the city experienced its warmest winter on record in recent months, with an average temperature reaching 19.3 degrees Celsius. People buy flowers at Hong Kong’s Flower Market on February 13, 2026, days before the Lunar New Year. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. “Together with the well-above-normal temperatures in December 2025 and warmer-than-usual weather in January 2026, Hong Kong experienced the warmest winter on record from December 2025 to February 2026 with the winter mean temperature reaching 19.3 degrees, 2.0 degrees above the normal,” the Observatory said in a statement on Tuesday. This winter, there were only five cold days – defined as a day with a minimum temperature of 12 degrees Celsius or below – the third lowest on record. The weather service also said February was “unseasonably warm”, recording a mean temperature of 20.1 degrees Celsius – 3 degrees above the normal and the second warmest on record for the month. Hong Kong also saw a warm Lunar New Year’s Eve last month, with a record-high minimum temperature of 22 degrees Celsius. Cold front Meanwhile, a northeast monsoon brought cooler weather to the Guangdong region on Wednesday, with the mercury dropping to 17 degrees Celsius at the Observatory. The HKO forecast cool and cloudy conditions on Wednesday, with a few patches of rain, and cool temperatures in the morning over the next few days. “Under the influence of a relatively dry replenishment of the monsoon, the weather will improve gradually over the coast of Guangdong in the next couple of days,” it said. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that the intensity and frequency of heatwaves have continued to increase since the 1950s due to human-caused climate change. The prevalence of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide – which trap heat in the atmosphere – raises the planet’s surface temperature, with hotter, longer heatwaves putting lives at risk. See also: How extreme heat became the deadliest silent killer among world weather disasters Hong Kong has already warmed by 1.7 degrees Celsius since the Industrial Revolution, research NGO Berkeley Earth says. Heat and humidity may reach lethal levels for protracted periods by the end of the century, according to a 2023 study, making it impossible to stay outdoors in some parts of the world.