Tokyo, Dec 29 : Japan's average temperature in 2024 is likely to hit a record high for the second consecutive year, local media reported.

Preliminary figures released by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) showed the average temperature through November was 1.64 degrees Celsius warmer than the annual average for the 30-year period until 2020, hitting the highest level since the country's weather agency started releasing data in 1898, Xinhua news agency reported quoting Kyodo News.

"It can be said that temperatures were abnormally high," a JMA official said.

The high temperatures were due to warm air being brought in by westerlies that traveled further north than usual in addition to the effects of global warming, according to the agency.

Japan's temperatures have kept rising in recent years, with the five years between 2019 and 2023 dominating the top five hottest years, the report said.

The average surface temperature of the seas around Japan was also 1.46 degrees Celsius higher than the annual average as of late November, surpassing a record high marked in 2023 since comparable data became available in 1908.

Earlier on December 23, Japan's weather agency urged people to exercise caution as heavy snow was forecast to hit mainly northern to western areas along the Sea of Japan.

Snowfall reached about 20 cm in Hirakawa City in Aomori Prefecture, Minamiaizu Town in Fukushima Prefecture, and Minakami Town in Gunma Prefecture, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

Weather officials urged people, primarily in northern through western regions along the Sea of Japan, to be vigilant against avalanches and snow accumulation on electric wires and trees.

Earlier on December 19, the first snowfall of the season fell in central Tokyo, 15 days earlier than an average year and 25 days earlier than last season, the country's weather agency said.

/IANS