China scorched by record heatwave

Power use in Beijing has hit a record high as millions of people in northern China turned up air conditioning amid a heatwave that is scorching the region with temperatures up to 42 degrees Celcius, news reports said today.

Hospitals said the numbers of children being treated for heat-related ailments was up sharply, while construction workers building a new subway line in the Chinese capital were told to take the middle of the day off, the newspaper China Daily reported.