TOKYO (Reuters) - An intense heatwave killed at least 14 people over a three-day long weekend in Japan, media reported on Tuesday, and high temperatures hampered the recovery in flood-hit areas where more than 200 people died last week.

FILE PHOTO: A volunteer, for recovery work, wipes his sweat as he takes a break in a heat wave at a flood affected area in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, Japan, July 14, 2018. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo

Temperatures on Monday, a national holiday, surged above 39 degrees Celsius (102.2 Fahrenheit) in some inland areas and combined with high humidity to produce dangerous conditions, the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.

At least 14 people died from the heat over the long weekend, media reports said, including a woman in her 90s who was found unconscious in a field. Thousands more were treated in hospitals for heat-related conditions.

The heat was most intense in landlocked areas such as Gifu prefecture, where it soared to 39.3 Celsius (102.7 F) in the town of Ibigawa on Monday - the hottest in the nation. The capital Tokyo recorded a high of 34 Celsius on Monday.

Temperatures in parts of western Japan hit by deadly floods reached a high of 34.3 Celsius by midday on Tuesday, creating dangerous conditions for military personnel and volunteers clearing mud and debris.

“It’s really hot. All we can do is keep drinking water,” one man in Okayama told NHK television.

Temperatures of 35 or above - known in Japanese as “intensely hot days” - were recorded at 200 locations around Japan on Sunday, the JMA said, which is unusual for July but not unprecedented.

Similar scorching temperatures were reported from 213 locations on a July day in 2014.

Last year, 48 people died from heat between May and September, with 31 deaths in July, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

The current heatwave was due to the layering of two high pressure systems over much of Japan and is expected to continue for the rest of the week if not longer, the JMA said.</s>related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery.

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An intense heatwave killed at least 14 people over a three-day long weekend in Japan, media reported on Tuesday, and high temperatures hampered the recovery in flood-hit areas where more than 200 people died last week.

TOKYO: An intense heatwave killed at least 14 people over a three-day long weekend in Japan, media reported on Tuesday, and high temperatures hampered the recovery in flood-hit areas where more than 200 people died last week.

Temperatures on Monday, a national holiday, surged above 39 degrees Celsius (102.2 Fahrenheit) in some inland areas and combined with high humidity to produce dangerous conditions, the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.

At least 14 people died from the heat over the long weekend, media reports said, including a woman in her 90s who was found unconscious in a field. Thousands more were treated in hospitals for heat-related conditions.

The heat was most intense in landlocked areas such as Gifu prefecture, where it soared to 39.3 Celsius (102.7 F) in the town of Ibigawa on Monday - the hottest in the nation. The capital Tokyo recorded a high of 34 Celsius on Monday.

Temperatures in parts of western Japan hit by deadly floods reached a high of 34.3 Celsius by midday on Tuesday, creating dangerous conditions for military personnel and volunteers clearing mud and debris.

"It's really hot. All we can do is keep drinking water," one man in Okayama told NHK television.

Temperatures of 35 or above - known in Japanese as "intensely hot days" - were recorded at 200 locations around Japan on Sunday, the JMA said, which is unusual for July but not unprecedented.

Similar scorching temperatures were reported from 213 locations on a July day in 2014.

Last year, 48 people died from heat between May and September, with 31 deaths in July, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

The current heatwave was due to the layering of two high pressure systems over much of Japan and is expected to continue for the rest of the week if not longer, the JMA said.</s>Temperatures on Monday, a national holiday, surged above 39 degrees Celsius (102.2 Fahrenheit) in some inland areas and combined with high humidity to produce dangerous conditions, the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.

At least 14 people died from the heat over the long weekend, media reports said, including a woman in her 90s who was found unconscious in a field. Thousands more were treated in hospitals for heat-related conditions.

The heat was most intense in landlocked areas such as Gifu prefecture, where it soared to 39.3 Celsius (102.7 F) in the town of Ibigawa on Monday - the hottest in the nation. The capital Tokyo recorded a high of 34 Celsius on Monday.

Temperatures in parts of western Japan hit by deadly floods reached a high of 34.3 Celsius by midday on Tuesday, creating dangerous conditions for military personnel and volunteers clearing mud and debris.

Temperatures of 35 or above - known in Japanese as "intensely hot days" - were recorded at 200 locations around Japan on Sunday, the JMA said, which is unusual for July but not unprecedented.</s>SEOUL, July 17 (UPI) -- Scorching heat in South Korea has caused four deaths and sent hundreds of people to hospitals for heat-related symptoms.

The number of those hospitalized from heat-related symptoms rose to 285 Sunday, officials said. A total of 551 have been taken to hospitals in the sweltering heat from May to July, the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.

Forecasters expect the hot days will continue with the mercury expected to stay above 91 degrees Fahrenheit nationwide this week. The temperature stays in the 70s at night.

The Korea Meteorological Administration issued heatwave warnings in most regions Tuesday with temperatures expected to rise to more than 90 degrees.

The heatwave has also caused some 790,000 deaths of livestock with the estimated loss of 4.2 billion won ($3.7 million) at farms in the country, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Yonhap reported.

The intense heat also caused a part of an expressway on the west coast to expand and rise. It's also put a strain on an air conditioning system on the KTX express train, leaving some passengers without air conditioning for hours.</s>The UK heatwave 2018 continues with scorching temperatures reaching 32C (90F) today as Britain’s hottest summer since 1976 takes its toll before the country could welcome a fortnight of heavy rain and thunderstorms.

Before remnants of Hurricane Chris move over the Atlantic to allow for these changeable conditions and the jet stream increases the chance of heavy downpour, Britons will be forced to endure a few more days of sunshine.

The Met Office reported that Sunday, July 16 was the hottest day in England this year and the UK is currently enjoying its 16th consecutive day of temperatures hitting over 28C. The heatwave is forecast throughout July and August. But when is it due to end?

What is causing the UK heatwave?

The Northern Hemisphere has had to put up with record temperatures over the past couple of weeks and has raised concern about whether this is a one-off heatwave or part of a pattern brought on by global warming or climate change.

As reported in The Week, due to large areas of heat pressure, some of the hottest temperatures ever have been recorded with Britain experiencing its longest spell of hot weather for 42 years, causing railway lines to buckle.

Edward Hanna, professor of climate science and meteorology at the University of Lincoln, said: ‘You just can’t link individual events to climate change. There’s a lot of natural variability [in weather] and we’re talking about seasonal changes which are always variable to some degree,’ as quoted on Wired.

However, despite the UK being in a position that sits at the confluence between different air masses and therefore, it being harder to predict the effect of global warming on the country, there is something strange about the heatwave of 2018.

‘They simply can’t predict changes in the jet stream accurately enough over the next few decades. It’s almost getting to drought-like conditions in many parts of the country. That’s actually quite unusual and I think we’re all increasingly aware of that,’ Hanna said.

Ted Shepherd, a climatologist at the University of Reading, said that while it's hard to determine what the heatwave or cold snap last winter means for climate change as a whole, we should expect more extreme weather in the form of hotter summers.

‘It’s clear that there is a long term trend on that. Because of climate change we will get more hot summers in general, and this is a good example of what’s going to come so it’s a good opportunity to think of our resilience and if we’re ready for such a thing,’ Shepherd said.

How long is the heatwave going to last in the UK?

The heatwave will continue throughout July and is thought to end in August, but there will be a brief period of rain to provide relief when a cold front will arrive from Scotland and make its way down south, resulting in temperatures in the low 20s in England, according to The Mirror.

Met Office spokeswoman Nicola Maxey said: ‘Still above average for the time of year, but perhaps a bit of respite from that intense heat that we've been seeing in places. Just for the east side of the country. The south and central areas are likely to continue with the higher 20s.’

Next week will welcome showers and possible thunderstorms for those in the south of England.

When will the UK heatwave end?

Although the UK will have a long period of sunny weather until August, bookies have predicted that the heatwave could end as early as next week as July enters the record books as the wettest ever.

Forecaster Amy Hodgson of The Weather Channel said: ‘Increased cloud with outbreaks of light rain will affect Ireland and Scotland over the weekend, whilst England and Wales will be dry and mostly sunny.

‘It will be a hot and humid weekend in a south-westerly flow, with maximum temperatures in the mid to high 20s across England and Wales, but cooler across Ireland and Scotland with highs in the high teens to low 20s.’

Alongside this, according to a Met Office forecaster, the weather will be ‘less hot, is the best way to describe next week, but it will still be warm. There will be some sunny spells but there will be a few showers around that could be heavy and thundery.

‘All parts of the UK will see some spells of sunshine, but there is likely to be relatively more in the way of rain or showers at times too. Some of the showers could be heavy or thundery at times.

‘There may also be bands of more persistent rain on occasion which may bring some stronger winds too, especially to northern and western parts. These bands of rain could occur at any time but become more likely later on in the period.

The best of the fine weather and sunny conditions looks to be in the east and southeast of the UK. Temperatures will be close to average in the northwest, but with light winds it will still feel very warm at times across the south and east.’

During the UK heatwave 2018, many parallels have been made with the hot weather that consumed the country during the summer of 1976.

As reported in The Mirror, Met Office forecaster John Hammond said: ‘Hot and dry weather breeds hot and dry weather. This effect was seen in 1976.’

However, the driest summer on record was in 1995, with only 64.7 ml of rain in June, July and August. The average for June this year was 35.4ml, which makes it one of the five warmest Junes in the UK since 1910.

June 2018 was also one of the hottest for more than 300 years, bordering on the top 10 since records began 359 years ago.</s>, TOKYO, Japan, Jul 16 – A blistering heatwave smothered swathes of flood-hit western Japan Monday, hampering clean-up efforts as survivors and relief workers toil in stifling temperatures a week after devastating inundations that killed more than 200 people.

Tens of thousands of rescue workers are still digging through the debris for bodies after Japan’s worst weather-related disaster in over three decades, which saw record downpours spark flash flooding and landslides across the region.

The toll of 219 is expected to continue to rise, with at least 21 still missing, while the punishing heatwave has pushed the thermometre above 35C (95F) and raised fears for vulnerable people.

Some 4,700 survivors were forced to evacuate the disaster area, where homes were reduced to rubble by the floods and landslides.

Many remain in shelters, while others have been left without water supply.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga warned survivors, volunteers and the 64,000 rescue workers in the disaster zone of the dangers of heatstroke.

“We are operating in tough conditions, with a severe heatwave in this region,” Koji Kunitomi, a spokesman at the disaster management department in flood-hit Okayama prefecture, told AFP.

Sweltering summer weather has swept across Japan in recent days, sending temperatures surging just days after the record rainfall.

The country’s meteorological agency has warned that the heat is “more severe” than normal, with temperatures in Okayama hitting a high of 36.8C on Monday, compared to an average high of 31C in the city.

On Sunday, local media reported that three people had died and more than 2,000 were sent to hospital across the nation due to heatstroke.

Television footage of the relief efforts in western Japan showed survivors and volunteers struggling to clear debris under the intense sun.

The body of one victim covered in a blue tarpaulin was carried from a destroyed house in Aki, Hiroshima on Monday.

The scale of the toll from the floods has prompted questions about whether authorities were properly prepared and acted effectively.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged support for survivors’ businesses, including to provide interest-free loans to farmers in the region.

“I want to take concrete measures to help people in the disaster areas revive their livelihoods as quickly as possible,” Abe told his ministers and government officials in Tokyo.

The government has assessed agricultural losses of at least 48 billion yen ($429 million), according to Suga.</s>TOKYO: A blistering heatwave smothered swathes of flood-hit western Japan on Monday, hampering clean-up efforts as survivors and relief workers toil in stifling temperatures a week after devastating inundations that killed more than 200 people.

Tens of thousands of rescue workers are still digging through the debris for bodies after Japan’s worst weather-related disaster in over three decades, which saw record downpours spark flash flooding and landslides across the region.

The toll of 219 is expected to continue to rise, with at least 21 still missing, while the punishing heatwave has pushed the thermometre above 35C and raised fears for vulnerable people. Some 4,700 survivors were forced to evacuate the disaster area, where homes were reduced to rubble by the floods and landslides.
An intense heatwave kills at least 14 people in Japan.