Last month was the warmest February on record, the Hong Kong Observatory says, adding that both the monthly mean temperature of 19.5 degrees Celsius and the mean daily minimum temperature of 17.8 degrees Celsius were the highest ever for the city.

It was also sunnier and drier than usual. The total duration of bright sunshine was 129.6 hours, 31.9 hours above normal.

Only 6.9mm of rainfall was recorded, about a seventh of the normal figure of 48mm. The accumulated rainfall in the year's first two months was 36.5mm, about half of the normal figure of 71.4mm.