The toll for this weekend's heat wave rose to eight dead and 2,000 injured Sunday after two people died in Shiga and Saga prefectures, a Kyodo News tally showed.

Temperatures rose above 35 in many parts of Japan, with the high for the day logged as 38.8 in Fukuchiyama, Kyoto Prefecture, and in the town of Ibigawa, Gifu Prefecture.

The tally showed that 2,061 people across the nation were taken to hospitals for heatstroke or heat exhaustion on Sunday as many were making the most of a three-day weekend.

On Saturday, six people died and over 1,500 were treated for heat-related maladies, with a temperature of 38.7 recorded in Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture.

The extreme heat made it harder to carry out relief operations in areas ravaged by this month's flooding and landslides.

In the hardest-hit prefectures of Okayama, Hiroshima and Ehime, 145 people, including volunteers, were taken to hospitals as the mercury touched 36 in some areas.

Of the 927 monitoring points run nationwide by the Meteorological Agency, 200 logged highs of at least 35. Osaka had the highest number of people — 141 — taken to hospitals.

The agency warned people to take measures to prevent heatstroke and heat exhaustion because the hot weather is expected to continue through next Sunday.