People cool off at a water park in Baghdad, Iraq, July 25, 2019. A new heatwave has engulfed Iraq with temperatures jumping to around 50 degrees Celsius in the southern provinces, the Iraqi meteorological monitoring body said Thursday. (Xinhua)

BAGHDAD, July 25 (Xinhua) -- A new heatwave has engulfed Iraq with temperature jumping to around 50 degrees Celsius in the southern provinces, the Iraqi meteorological monitoring body said Thursday.

According to a statement by the General Authority for Meteorology and Seismic Monitoring, the maximum temperature in the southern port city of Basra climbed to 50 degrees Celsius, with 49 degrees Celsius in the provinces of Maysan and Dhi Qar.

Meanwhile, the capital Baghdad and the western province of Anbar witnessed a temperature of 47 degrees Celsius.

In the northern provinces of Sulaymaniyah, Erbil and Duhok, temperature ranged between 39 and 42 degrees Celsius.

Iraq regularly witnesses scorching summer season with temperature sometimes exceeding 50 degrees Celsius, prompting the government to announce general holiday over stifling heat.