Seoul: The temperature in Seoul soared to 37.7 degrees Celsius at around 3 p.m. (local time) on Tuesday, the highest temperature ever recorded for early July in South Korea's capital city since record-keeping began in 1908, the state weather agency said.  

The record was broken after 86 years as the previous record high for the first 10 days of July in Seoul was 36.8 degrees Celsius filed on July 9, 1939, according to the agency.

This became Seoul's hottest day for early July in 117 years since temperature observations began in 1908, it noted. Besides Seoul, new high-temperature records for early July were set in many other cities nationwide -- Incheon (35.6 degrees Celsius), Wonju of Gangwon Province (35.4 degrees Celsius), Suwon of Gyeonggi Province (35.7 degrees Celsius), Cheongju of North Chungcheong Province (35.7 degrees Celsius), Daejeon (36.3 degrees Celsius), Gochang of North Jeolla Province (35.8 degrees Celsius) and Busan (34.5 degrees Celsius), the weather agency said.

The sweltering weather may slightly ease around Friday but will continue again later due to the influx of hot and humid air from the south, it said.

Temperatures in the border city of Paju and Gwangmyeong, just south of Seoul, exceeded 40 degrees Celsius. It marked the first time that temperatures have reached over 40 degrees Celsius in July, reported Yonhap news agency.

The heat wave is forecast to persist until some rainfall in the capital area and western Gangwon Province around July 16, the agency said.

Seoul experienced its ninth consecutive tropical night between Monday and Tuesday.

According to the weather agency, the nation's average temperature, excluding the southern Jeju Island, in the first seven days of July was 28.1 degrees Celsius, the highest figure on record since relevant record-keeping began in 1973. (IANS)