October was Taiwan's hottest on record

TAIPEI, Oct 31 (AFP): Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the weather agency said Friday, the latest in a string of global temperature records.

The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, Central Weather Administration forecaster Liu Pei-teng told AFP.

Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns.

Taiwan's average temperature was 27.381C as of October 30, Liu said.

Liu said the average could slip 0.1C by the end of Friday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009C in 2016.

"The temperature only started lowering around October 18 or 19 while in previous years it started cooling in mid-September or early October, which make the average temperature of this month a record high compared with the same period in previous years," Liu said.

Liu pointed to "relatively high" sea temperatures around Taiwan, Japan and the Western Pacific, and the delayed arrival of seasonal northeasterly winds for the heat.

President Lai Ching-te said Taiwan had been hit by damaging "wind and floods" in recent months as well as enduring "unusually hot" weather.

"High temperatures that continued into October were a very clear warning, and this kind of weather disaster will only become more frequent and severe in the future," Lai told the National Climate Change Committee on Thursday.

"From the torrential rains in Asia and heat waves in Europe to the forest fires in the Americas, extreme weather has become the 'new normal' around the globe, and it continues to impact the society and economy of every nation," he said, according to an official transcript.

A barrier lake in eastern Taiwan burst during torrential rains brought by Super Typhoon Ragasa in September, killing 19 people.