Japanese weather officials said on Sunday that the rainy season appears to have ended in the Chugoku and Kinki regions. Dangerous heat is hitting Japan, and caution is urged against heatstroke.

The Meteorological Agency made the announcement based on the forecast that fine weather will prevail in the coming week.

The end of the rainy season in the regions came two days later than average, and five days later than last year.

The western and eastern parts of the country were covered by a high pressure system on Sunday, with temperatures topping 35 degrees Celsius in some places.

By 12:30 p.m., a high of 38.2 degrees was recorded in the city of Toyooka in Hyogo Prefecture.

Humidity is also high.

The agency and the Environment Ministry issued heatstroke alerts for 34 prefectures from the Kanto Koshin region to Okinawa.

People are advised not to exercise and to refrain from going outside when the heat index on the ministry's website reaches 31 or higher in their region.

Residents of those areas are also advised to use air conditioning indoors and take fluids and salt from time to time.

People are advised to keep an eye on infants and the elderly, as they are vulnerable to heatstroke.

Weather officials say that as of Sunday noon, a tropical storm was moving north over the ocean east of the Philippines while developing.

The officials say the storm could approach Okinawa Prefecture's Sakishima Islands around Wednesday.
They call on people to pay attention to further information.