Shenzhen's power supply company has received thousands of complaints over power cuts since the beginning of July with the onset of unusually hot weather.

Increased demand for electricity has sent Shenzhen's power consumption soaring.

The city's daily consumption has increased by about 1 million kilowatts compared with the same period last year. This has resulted in power cuts in some areas across Shenzhen.

To cope with the increasing demand, Shenzhen was working day and night to expand its electricity grid, a source from the local electricity supplier said.

July 14 saw more than 8,000 calls to 95598, the telephone number of the company's customer service.

Shenzhen will again see temperatures around 34 degrees Celsius from Thursday, after maintaining a high of 35 degrees Celsius for several days, according to Ms Zhang, an employee with Shenzhen Municipal Meteorological Observatory.

With the high-pressure ridge over Shenzhen beginning to weaken, she warned that this would result in a low pressure system, which in turn would not make a great difference.

Given that Shenzhen was in the typhoon season (from July to September), Zhang said there were signs of some low-pressure movement in the sea east of the Philippines. If the low pressure deteriorates, a tropical storm could develop in the South China Sea, bringing Shenzhen under the influence of typhoon, according to Zhang.

The continuing hot weather can affect people's emotion. A psychology consultant said that 16 percent of the population could experience bad temper because of the hot weather. He said plenty of sleep was most important.

Long periods under air conditioning can also cause health problems.

A doctor with the city's No.2 People's Hospital said he had treated more than 60 patients with illnesses caused by air conditioning last Saturday.

The doctor advised people to wear long-sleeved clothes in air-conditioned rooms and should alternate work with intermittent exercise.

Editor: James