“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,” the Hong Kong Observatory said on Tuesday.

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Hong Kong has just experienced its warmest winter on record, the city’s observatory has confirmed.

February, which saw “unseasonably warm” weather and mean temperatures 3C above the normal, marked the end of the city’s hottest winter since records began in 1884.

Hong Kong Observatory data published Wednesday shows that the mean temperature between December and February reached 19.3C, a whole 2.0C above the normal. The mean maximum temperature of 21.9C was the highest on record for that period, while the minimum temperature of 17.3C was the second-highest on record. Only five cold days – defined as days with a minimum temperature of 12C or below – were recorded, the third lowest on record.

“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,” the Observatory said on Tuesday.

Temperatures have been rising in Hong Kong in line with global trends. In 2025, the city’s sixth hottest year on record, all 12 months were warmer than usual. Hong Kong also saw a total of 20 record-breaking weather and temperature events. These included the highest absolute maximum temperature for June (35.6C), the highest total daily rainfall for August (398.9 mm), and the highest monthly mean temperature for October (25.6C).

Overall, 2025 was the year with the lowest mean relative humidity, on par with 1963. A study last year warned that climate change is making once-wet cities like Hong Kong exponentially drier, as it throws the water cycle “out of balance.”

Featured image: Kyle Lam/hongkongfp.com