South Korea endured its hottest summer since records began in 1973, with the national average temperature from June through August reaching 25-point-seven degrees Celsius.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration on Monday, the figure surpassed last year’s 25-point-six degrees, marking a second consecutive year of record heat. 

Average daily highs hit 30-point-seven degrees, the highest on record, while average nighttime lows of 21-point-five degrees ranked second, behind 2024.

The average minimum nighttime temperature between 6 p.m. and 9 a.m. matched last year’s 21-point-nine degrees, tying for the highest on record, while heat wave days averaged 28-point-one, the third-most since 1973.

Tropical nights, defined by temperatures staying above 25 degrees, averaged 15-point-five, ranking fourth after 2024, 2018 and 1994.

Nationwide rainfall totaled 619-point-five millimeters, just 85 percent of normal, with the drought-hit eastern Gangwon region recording only 232-point-five millimeters — the lowest summer rainfall there since records began.

The extreme conditions were attributed to overlapping influences of the North Pacific and Tibetan high-pressure systems that kept the Korean Peninsula under persistent heat.