It is unbearably hot. With temperatures hitting record highs, a level-two nationwide emergency heat alert was issued for the first time on Tuesday.

Temperatures in the south and southwest of the country have hit 40 C in the past week, and there have been heat-related deaths reported in Shanghai and some other cities.

With temperatures in Shanghai soaring to 35 C or above on 24 days this month, it has been the hottest July since records began 140 years ago, and the heat wave is expected to last at least another week, according to the city's meteorological bureau.