Japanese cities are experiencing “cruelly hot days”, a new meteorological term devised this year to warn people of intense heat above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), with emergency officials describing the soaring temperatures on Wednesday as “a disaster”.
Heatstroke alerts were issued across almost the whole country and emergency officials said at least 14 people had died from heat-related causes in the past week.
Three central cities logged scorching temperatures on Tuesday above the new threshold, called kokushobi, which translates to “cruelly hot day”, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).
Large areas, including the central hub of Nagoya and communities near Tokyo in the east, were enduring temperatures approaching or above 40 degrees on Wednesday.
The new term was designed to draw greater public attention to heat-related warnings, although it does not trigger any official measures nationwide.
The JMA has issued heatstroke alerts in 41 out of Japan’s 47 prefectures, urging the public – especially the country’s many elderly – to take steps to stay cool.
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