At least four people have died of heatstroke and the Japan Meteorological Agency has warned people to take precautions against an early heatwave that has enveloped the nation.
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The sudden spike in temperatures began on Tuesday, with Kofu reporting a high of 38.2 degrees Celsius (100.7 degrees Fahrenheit), more than 10 degrees above average for the middle of June, which is typically the rainy season in Japan. Temperatures of 37.7 degrees were reported in Gunma prefecture and 37.6 degrees in Shizuoka.
Tokyo recorded a high of 34.8 degrees and Osaka was at 33.4 degrees, according to the agency, with 547 locations across the country reporting temperatures past 30 degrees.
The four people who died of heatstroke were all elderly and included a woman aged 96 who was found collapsed in a field in Gunma and later pronounced dead. Doctors in Tokyo treated 169 people for symptoms of heatstroke on Tuesday and a further 57 on Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reported.
The above-average temperatures are expected to continue until the weekend.
“The current heat is clearly unusual,” said Yukiko Imada, a professor at the University of Tokyo’s department of Climate System Research.