The mercury on Sunday soared to a temple-scorching 39.9 degrees (104 F) in Kyotanabe, Kyoto Prefecture, resetting the record for highest temperature this summer, the Meteorological Agency said.

It was also the highest temperature ever recorded in the month of September. The previous record, 39.7, was logged in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, on Sept. 2, 2000, the agency said.

Osaka was simmering at a lower 36.2, bringing the number of days in which the mercury has topped 35 to 28 in a row, a number last seen in 1994, the agency said.