Abstract: In the summer of 2022,the Yangtze River Basin experienced a rarely extreme high temperature and drought event.In this paper, the characteristics of this event and its causes were analyzed by using the observational and reanalysis data.It was found that the total areal precipitation in the summer of 2022 was 33.7% less than that of the same period of the years, which was the second lowest since 1961.Entering July and August, the high temperature developed rapidly, during which the mean temperature and the number of high temperature days were the highest on record.High temperature and less rainfall led to the rapid development of drought in the Yangtze River Basin, making the drought days generally reach more than 20 days, and the number of stations exceeding moderate drought was also the highest in history.Due to the strong South Asia High and the early northward jump of the western Pacific subtropical high in late June, the precipitation in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River during the Meiyu season was relatively small.From July to August, the Yangtze River Basin was under long-term control of the strong western Pacific subtropical high, cold air from the north could not move southward, and water vapor from the south could not transport to the Yangtze River Basin.The strong sinking motion inside the high pressure made the Yangtze River Basin subject to long lasting high temperature and little rainfall.In addition, the clear-warm weather increased the evaporation significantly, which further aggravated the drought in the Yangtze River Basin.