Scorching heat continues to grip Japan on Friday.

Highs of 38 degrees Celsius or more are forecast in the Kanto, Tokai, Kansai and Kyushu regions. The mercury is expected to hit 39 degrees in the western prefectures of Kyoto and Oita.

By 11:30 a.m. on Friday, Tsuwano Town in Shimane Prefecture recorded 36.8 degrees, while Hatoyama Town in Saitama Prefecture posted 36.7 degrees and Fukusaki Town in Hyogo Prefecture hit 36.3 degrees.

Temperatures are forecast to rise further in the afternoon. Daytime highs will be 39 degrees in Kyoto City and 36 degrees in central Tokyo.

The Japan Meteorological Agency and the Environment Ministry warn that risks of developing heatstroke are extremely high and have issued heatstroke alerts for the Tokachi area of Hokkaido and the eastern prefectures of Miyagi, Ibaraki, Gunma, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba, Kanagawa, Yamanashi and Niigata. The Tokai, Hokuriku, Kansai, Chugoku, Shikoku regions as well as most of the Kyushu region and the Yaeyama area of Okinawa Prefecture have also been put on the alert.

The number of prefectures with heatstroke alerts in place has reached 40, a record high.

Environment Ministry officials say the death toll from heatstroke tends to surge when such intense heat continues for some time.

Actually, an increasing number of people have been coming down with the condition and some of them have died. Officials are calling on people to be fully vigilant.