 A record-breaking heatwave hit the Yangtze River valley in the boreal summer of 2022, causing severe social and economic losses. The heatwave was linked to a combination of factors including a Launenia event, an anomalous western North Pacific subtropical high, WNPSH, and a negative phase of the Silk Road pattern, SRP. The WNPSH was strengthened in August due to negative sea surface temperatures in the central Pacific, while the SRP was at its lowest level since the 1990s. These two factors combined to create a westward extension of the WNPSH, which resulted in increased atmospheric convergence and descending motion over the Yangtze River valley, leading to an abnormally intense heatwave. This article was authored by Daquan Zhong, Lijuan Chen, Yuan Yuan,