ISTANBUL

Temperatures in two western South Korean cities topped 40C (104F) on Tuesday, marking the highest July temperatures ever recorded in the country, Yonhap News reported.

The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said that on Tuesday that Paju reached 40.1°C (104.2°F) and Gwangmyeong hit 40.2°C (104.4°F), based on automated weather station data.

This was the first time since last August that South Korea saw temperatures over 40C (104F), when Yeoju also hit 40C (104F) during what was recorded as the hottest year in the country’s history.

On the same day, Seoul also reached 37.7°C (99.9°F), the highest early July temperature in 117 years of records since 1908, beating the previous record of 36.8°C (98.2°F) from 1939.

Other cities also set early July highs: Incheon (35.6C/96.1F), Wonju (35.4C/95.7F), Suwon (35.7C/96.3F), Cheongju (35.7C/96.3F), Daejeon (36.3C/97.3F), Gochang (35.8C/96.4F), and Busan (34.5C/94.1F).

Temperatures above 40C (104F) are rare in South Korea, with the southeastern city of Daegu seeing 40C (104F) back in 1942. After decades, several regions across the country passed 40°C (104°F) in August 2018.

But as with many regions of the world, new temperature highs have been seen recently in the country, likely due to global warming.

The highest temperature ever recorded in South Korea was 41°C (105.8°F) in the northeastern county of Hongcheon on Aug. 1, 2018, according to KMA.