Though rainy season comes to an end in some areas, heat wave to continue throughout next week

Quite a number of people made their way to emergency rooms nationwide on Wednesday amid the blistering heat wave here in Korea that continues today.

Ahn Sung-jin covers the scorching temperatures here.

South Korea remains in the grip of a heat wave.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, heat wave advisories were issued across the country on Thursday, with morning lows ranging from 23 to 28 degrees and the daytime high reaching up to 37 degrees in some areas.

As hot and humid conditions persist, the feel-like temperatures are expected to hover above 33 degrees in most parts of the country.

With temperatures remaining over 25 degrees throughout the night as well, the capital Seoul has continued to see tropical nights since the first one of the year on June 29th.

As the country continues to suffer, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency stated that the number of those reported with heat-related illnesses reached 5-hundred-24 from May 15th till the first of July.

The figure is 1-point-3-4 times more than the same period from last year.

Health authorities are urging the public to take precautions by making sure to rest in cool environments and limit outdoor activities.

Meanwhile, the rainy season has come to an early end.

The KMA has announced that the monsoon season has officially ended on Jeju Island and in the southern regions, marking one of the earliest on record.

As the North Pacific high air pressure system pushed the monsoon stationary front northwest, Jeju left the effective range on June 26th, and southern regions have been out of the area of monsoon influence since Tuesday.

For Jeju, it has been the earliest monsoon season ending since nationwide weather monitoring began in 1973, while for southern areas it marked the second earliest.

In terms of the monsoon period, both Jeju and the southern regions were the second-shortest on record, lasting 15 and 13 days consecutively.

However, the KMA said it's still too early to declare the end of the monsoon season in other regions, as a weakened stationary front near North Korea may temporarily affect the area.

Rain is forecast for this week, though precipitation is expected to remain light.

Ahn Sung-jin, Arirang News.