May was drier than usual with a monthly rainfall of 182.8mm, about 37% below normal, the Hong Kong Observatory said today.

The accumulated rainfall in the first five months of this year was 350.4mm, about 41% below the normal figure for the same period.

The month was also slightly warmer than usual with a mean temperature of 26.6 degrees Celsius, which was 0.3 degrees above normal.

Together with the above normal temperatures in March and April, the spring of this year from March to May was exceptionally warm, with a mean minimum temperature of 22 degrees Celsius, mean temperature of 23.8 degrees Celsius and mean maximum temperature of 26.5 degrees Celsius, which were the fourth, sixth and eighth highest on record for the same period.

There was one tropical cyclone over the South China Sea and the western North Pacific during the month.