Temperatures topped 35 degrees Monday in various locations nationwide, the Meteorological Agency said, warning vacationers of possible heat stroke as they rushed home on the last day of a three-day weekend.
The highest temperature as of 4:10 p.m. was 36.8, recorded in Nakatsu, Oita Prefecture, as strong sunshine heated up warm air that was already blowing in, the agency said.
Other areas with hot weather included Tatebayashi, Gunma Prefecture, at 36.7, followed by 36.6 in Kusu and Hita in Oita Prefecture and Daigo, Ibaraki Prefecture, and 36.4 in Nerima Ward, Tokyo, and the city of Saitama.
Traffic congestion due to the return rush of vacationers was heavy on various expressways. A 40-km-long traffic jam clogged the Tomei Expressway's Yamato Tunnel in Kanagawa Prefecture as of 4:30 p.m., the Japan Road Traffic Information Center said.
