Whew! Japan Had Hottest Summer on Record 

People walk past an overhead water misting system on a hot day in the Ginza district of Tokyo on July 10, 2023.  (AFP)
People walk past an overhead water misting system on a hot day in the Ginza district of Tokyo on July 10, 2023. (AFP)
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Whew! Japan Had Hottest Summer on Record 

People walk past an overhead water misting system on a hot day in the Ginza district of Tokyo on July 10, 2023.  (AFP)
People walk past an overhead water misting system on a hot day in the Ginza district of Tokyo on July 10, 2023. (AFP)

Japan recorded its highest average temperature this summer in 125 years, the nation's weather agency said on Friday.

Based on measurements at 15 locations around the country from June through August, the average temperature deviation was +1.76 degrees Celsius, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. That exceeded the previous record of +1.08 degrees in 2010.

JMA's data goes back to 1898.

Average temperatures were considerably higher in the northern, eastern, and western parts of the country, the JMA said.



Power Failures Cause Disruption on London Tube

 People walk at Waterloo station, after Transport for London (TfL) reported a power failure across the London Underground, London Overground and the Elizabeth line, in London, Britain, May 12, 2025. (Reuters)
People walk at Waterloo station, after Transport for London (TfL) reported a power failure across the London Underground, London Overground and the Elizabeth line, in London, Britain, May 12, 2025. (Reuters)
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Power Failures Cause Disruption on London Tube

 People walk at Waterloo station, after Transport for London (TfL) reported a power failure across the London Underground, London Overground and the Elizabeth line, in London, Britain, May 12, 2025. (Reuters)
People walk at Waterloo station, after Transport for London (TfL) reported a power failure across the London Underground, London Overground and the Elizabeth line, in London, Britain, May 12, 2025. (Reuters)

Power failures caused delays and disruption on London's Tube network on Monday, as several of its busiest lines were suspended.

The Bakerloo line was completely suspended as of 1715 local time (1615 GMT), while other services including the Jubilee, Elizabeth and Piccadilly lines were facing severe or minor delays following a power outage more than two hours earlier.

Transport for London (TfL) said it was working to get the whole network back to normal service as quickly as possible.

"Due to a brief interruption of the power supply to our network, several lines lost power for a short period earlier this afternoon," TfL Chief Operating Officer Claire Mann said in a statement.

Britain's National Grid confirmed that a fault on its transmission network had caused a power failure.

"The fault was resolved within seconds and did not interrupt supply from our network, but a consequent voltage dip may have briefly affected power supplies on the low voltage distribution network in the area," a spokesperson said.

The incident also caused a small contained fire which was brought under control, National Grid said.

The potential for power failures to cause major disruption came into sharp focus in March when London's Heathrow Airport was forced to shut for 18 hours due to a fire at a nearby electrical substation, stranding hundreds of thousands of air travelers.

Transport trade union TSSA called for an inquiry into the incident to ensure a similar power outage does not happen again.

"Safety for all is key at this moment, but in due course we will need a proper inquiry into what happened and the lessons to be learned," TSSA General Secretary Maryam Eslamdoust said.