Japan Sees Hottest September Since Records Began 

Young women use portable fans to seek relief from the heat as temperatures soar in Japan. (AFP)
Young women use portable fans to seek relief from the heat as temperatures soar in Japan. (AFP)
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Japan Sees Hottest September Since Records Began 

Young women use portable fans to seek relief from the heat as temperatures soar in Japan. (AFP)
Young women use portable fans to seek relief from the heat as temperatures soar in Japan. (AFP)

Japan has seen its hottest September since records began 125 years ago, the weather agency said, in a year expected to be the warmest in human history.

The scorching September's average temperature was 2.66 degrees Celsius higher than usual, the Japan Meteorological Agency said on Monday.

This was "the highest figure since the start of statistics in 1898", the agency said in a statement.

This year is expected to be the hottest in human history as climate change accelerates, with countries including Austria, France, Germany, Poland and Switzerland each announcing their warmest September on record.

Across Japan last month, 100 of 153 observation locations broke an average temperature record, including in Tokyo, with an all-time high of 26.7 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit), in Osaka with 27.9C and in Nagoya with 27.3C.

The average temperature jump of 2.66C was "extraordinary" and "easily topped previous highs", weather agency official Masayuki Hirai told AFP on Tuesday.

"If this is not an abnormally high temperature, I don't know what is," he said.

French weather authority Meteo-France said the September temperature average in the country will be around 21.5 degrees Celsius, between 3.5C and 3.6C above the 1991-2020 reference period.

The UK, too, has matched its record for the warmest September since records began in 1884.

The average global temperature in June, July and August was 16.77 degrees Celsius, surpassing the previous 2019 record, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said in a report.

In September, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told world leaders the climate crisis had "opened the gates to hell".

In his opening address at the Climate Ambition Summit, Guterres evoked this year's "horrendous heat" but stressed: "We can still limit the rise in global temperature to 1.5 degrees," referring to the target seen as needed to avoid long-term climate catastrophe.



Heatstroke Alerts Issued in Japan as Temperatures Surge 

A person visits Horikiri Iris Garden in Tokyo where temperatures reached into the mid-30s Centigrade (90F+) on June 18, 2025. (AFP)
A person visits Horikiri Iris Garden in Tokyo where temperatures reached into the mid-30s Centigrade (90F+) on June 18, 2025. (AFP)
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Heatstroke Alerts Issued in Japan as Temperatures Surge 

A person visits Horikiri Iris Garden in Tokyo where temperatures reached into the mid-30s Centigrade (90F+) on June 18, 2025. (AFP)
A person visits Horikiri Iris Garden in Tokyo where temperatures reached into the mid-30s Centigrade (90F+) on June 18, 2025. (AFP)

Sweltering temperatures prompted heatstroke alerts in multiple Japanese regions on Wednesday, with dozens of people seeking emergency medical care in the capital Tokyo.

The hot weather was headline news in the country, which last year experienced its joint warmest summer ever as climate change fueled extreme heatwaves around the globe.

Record temperatures were logged in 14 cities for June, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, while in central Tokyo the mercury hit 34.4 degrees Celsius (94 Fahrenheit).

Doctors treated at least 57 people for heat-related malaise in the capital on Wednesday, adding to the 169 people seen on Tuesday.

At least three heat-related deaths were reported in other parts of the country this week.

Some Tokyo residents wore heat-repellent clothing to beat the high temperatures, like Junko Kobayashi, 73, who showed AFP her cooling scarf.

"I soak it in water and then wrap it around my neck. It feels refreshing. And I use this umbrella too. It blocks the light and heat so it feels cooler," she said.

Other elderly residents said they were trying to take it easy so as not to risk heatstroke, while 80-year-old Naoki Ito said he was making sure to regularly drink water.

"I don't need to take a big gulp, just a small sip here and there. It's important to remember that," Ito said.

Every summer, Japanese officials urge the public, especially elderly people, to seek shelter in air-conditioned rooms to avoid heatstroke.

Senior citizens made up more than 80 percent of heat-related deaths in the past five years.

Japan is also experiencing a record influx of tourists, with foreign visitors up 21 percent year-on-year in May.

"It's been pretty stinking," said 31-year-old Australian tourist Jack Budd, who was trying to find shade whenever possible with his travel partner.

"The breeze is quite warm so it's hard to get out of it unless you go inside," he said.