Japan and South Korea record the hottest summer in history

Japan's average temperature this summer was 2.36 degrees Celsius (4.24 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 30-year average from 1991 to 2020, Japan's Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.

This updated the record as the hottest summer since the start of statistics in 1898”, it said. JMA, they write foreign media, they send in Telegrafi.

Average summer temperatures broke records at 123 of the country's 153 weather stations, the weather agency added, with the number of automated meteorological stations registered <x0).

The JMA said it expected the strong heat to continue over the next two weeks, especially in eastern and western Japan, and urged citizens to take adequate precautions to avoid heat-related diseases.

Meanwhile, Japan last month broke the record for the hottest day ever recorded twice in a day, when temperatures in the central city of Isesaki rose to 41.8C (107.24F).

While in South Korea, the average summer temperature also set a new record, reaching 25.7C (78.26F), the highest since authorities began collecting data in 1973, the Korea Meteorological Administration said.

Both Japan and South Korea had previously reported 2024 as their hottest summer ever recorded.

The average summer temperature in South Korea last year was 25.6C (78.08F), while Japan's average temperature was 1. 76C (3.17F) above the rate in both 2024 and 2023.

Recent record temperatures in East Asian countries come amid warnings from scientists that climate change caused by man is creating more extreme weather.

And Asia has been particularly sensitive to extreme heat, according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

In its latest report on the climate released in June, the UN body said the region was warming almost twice as fast as the global average. /Periscopi/