Japan’s average temperature in July hit a record high for the third consecutive year, the Japan Meteorological Agency said Friday.

This July’s average temperature was 2.89 degrees Celsius higher than the 30-year average for the month. The positive deviation was the largest since records began in 1898.

As the average temperature in June also hit a new record high this year, the average summer temperature from June to August is “likely to rewrite the record, too,” said Yoshinori Oikawa, head of the agency’s Center for Information on Climate Extremes.

Last year, the country experienced the hottest summer for the second straight year.

Meanwhile, the amount of rainfall in July was 13 percent lower than average along the Sea of Japan coast of the Tohoku northeastern region and 8 percent lower along that of the Hokuriku central region. Both areas saw record-low rainfall. (PNA)