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In recent years, studies have found that drought can occur rapidly under anomalous atmospheric circulation patterns and underlying surface conditions. This type of drought is defined as "flash drought". It is more sensitive to global warming compared to traditional drought and may become a common drought phenomenon in the future and require intensive research. But the characteristics and development mechanism of flash drought in northern China has been studied much less than in southern China, and thus deserve further study. Based on the daily station data and GLDAS grid data from 1978 to 2020, this paper identified the flash drought in northern China, analyzed its evolution of temporal-spatial characteristics and explored the meteorological driving factors of flash drought. The main results are as follows: (1)The frequency of flash drought in the year is the highest in WNW (West of Northwest), followed by ENW (East of Northwest), NC (North China) and NE (Northeast China), while the frequency in the plant growing season is the highest in the south of NE and the south of NC, and low in the other regions. (2)The hotspot areas of flash drought showed an obvious eastward trend from WNW to ENW in northern China from the 1980s to 2010s. (3) There is a good relationship between soil moisture and precipitation in WNW and ENW, while the soil moisture is affected by both temperature and precipitation in NC and NE. (4) Flash drought could occur all through the year in WNW and NC, while it mainly occurred in the summer half-year and summer in EWN and NE. The main high occurrence period of flash drought in each region is in late spring and early summer, while a second high occurrence period appears from early September to late October in WNW. (5) From the perspective of the driving of water vapor changes, the flash drought in WNW and ENW is mainly driven by water vapor advection, while that in NC and NE is mainly driven by wind field divergence. • The hotspot areas of flash drought showed an obvious eastward movement from WNW to ENW in northern China. • The main high occurrence period is around early May to early July in northern China, with a second one in WNW. • Flash drought in WNW and ENW (NC and NE) is mainly driven by water vapor advection (wind field divergence). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]