above the 30-year average from 1991 to 2020, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. “This updated the record as the hottest summer since statistics began in 1898,” the JMA said.

Average summer temperatures broke records at 123 out of the 153 weather stations nationwide, the weather agency added, with the number of automated meteorological stations recording “extremely hot days” reaching a record 9,385. The JMA said it expected severe heat to continue over the next two weeks, particularly in eastern and western Japan, and urged citizens to take appropriate precautions to avoid heat-related illnesses. Japan last month broke the record for the hottest day on record twice in one day when temperatures in the central city of Isesaki rose as high as 41.8C (107.24F).

In South Korea, the average summer temperature also set a new record, hitting 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 on record. South Korea’s average summer temperature last year was 25.6C (78.08F), while Japan’s average temperature was 1.76C (3.17F) above the norm in both 2024 and 2023.

The latest record-setting temperatures in the East Asian countries come amid scientists’ warnings that human-driven climate change is creating more extreme weather. Asia has been particularly susceptible to extreme heat, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). In its latest climate report released in June, the UN body said the region was warming nearly twice as fast as the global average. The average temperature of Asia’s landmass last year was about 1.04C (1.87F) above the 1991-2020 trend, according to the WMO, making 2024 either the warmest or second warmest year on record, depending on the dataset used. (Al Jazeera/AFP)