10th August 2026 – (Shanghai) Typhoon Dolphin, which struck eastern China with intense rainfall, has weakened considerably since making two landfalls in Zhejiang province on Sunday, but has nonetheless caused widespread disruption to travel and daily life. China’s National Meteorological Centre issued the least severe typhoon alert on Monday morning, yet warned that parts of east and central China would face prolonged heavy showers for another day.
Despite the reduction in the storm’s intensity, officials were compelled to issue top-level flash flood warnings for areas in eastern and southern Zhejiang, with emergency teams evacuating scores of residents as a precaution. The city of Shanghai experienced substantial interruptions, as the authority for the city’s two main airports reported 943 cancelled flights. Public transport, including several local rail and subway services in Hangzhou, was suspended or experienced significant delays, although some resumed as conditions allowed and Ningbo International Airport planned to reopen from midday. Travellers, however, were cautioned that delays and cancellations could persist until the full effects of the typhoon dissipate.
Northern regions are also preparing for adverse conditions, as five Beijing districts issued red alerts for heavy downpours and warned of possible landslides and flooding. The country continues to recover from a string of extreme weather events, with Typhoon Dolphin arriving just a fortnight after Typhoon Noul hammered Guangdong and a month after Typhoon Maysak led to fatal floods and destructive storms in Guangxi and Hubei, resulting in the loss of dozens of lives and hundreds of injuries.
Meteorological experts have cautioned that the increasing frequency and intensity of such extreme events are linked to a warming climate driven largely by fossil fuel emissions. As the world’s leading emitter of greenhouse gases, China has also emerged as a significant force in renewable energy and has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.