It's hot! Record July temperatures heating up world

Marina Pitofsky | USA TODAY

This summer is shaping up to be a record sizzler from Algeria's deserts to Japan's bustling cities.

With the United Kingdom poised for historic heat Friday, countries across four continents smashed their own temperature marks this month.

In the past 30 days, there have been 3,092 new daily high temperatures, 159 new monthly heat records and 55 all-time highs worldwide, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In the U.S. alone, there have been 1,542 new daily high temperatures, 85 new monthly heat records and 23 all-time highs during the same period, most of which were recorded in Texas, New Mexico and Louisiana.

United Kingdom

Temperatures on Thursday reached 95.2 degrees at Wisley, Surrey, making it the hottest day of the year, according to the Met Office, which provides weather predictions and warnings for the U.K. The United Kingdom's all-time heat record of 101.3 degrees could be broken Friday, the Met Office said in a statement. That record was set in Faversham on Aug. 10, 2003.

Particularly concerning for the U.K. is that heat-related deaths could spike up to 7,000 a year by 2050 unless lawmakers create a plan to help people at risk of dehydration and heatstroke, Parliament's Environmental Audit Committee warned.

Japan and the Korean Peninsula

Japan recorded its highest temperature ever Monday with a reading of 106 degrees in Kumagaya. More than 65 people have died in the heat wave, and more than 22,000 people have been taken to hospitals.

Officials called the heat a natural disaster, and the Japanese Meteorological Agency predicts temperatures will continue at 95 degrees or higher into August.

In South Korea, 10 people died from heat-related health complications, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. Officials said more than 1,040 people reported dehydration and other heat-related illnesses from May 20 to July 21, a 61 percent increase over the same period last year.

Temperatures this week reached up to 103.8 in Hayang, South Korea, the highest in the country this year. And in North Korea, temperatures reached up to 104 degrees.

"It is so hot these days that I cannot figure out whether I am in (South Korea) or in Southeast Asia," Kim Sung-hee, a student in downtown Seoul, told ABC News.

Canada

More than 70 people died from blistering heat in late June and early July in central and eastern Canada. Thirty-four of these deaths occurred in Montreal from June 29 to July 7 alone, NPR reported.

Most of the people who died were elderly and lived in apartments with no air conditioning, David Kaiser, a physician manager at the Montreal Regional Department of Public Health, told NPR.

Montreal’s emergency services said it received more than 1,200 heat-related calls daily in the beginning of July. Montreal's fire and police departments also visited more than 20,000 homes to check on residents.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned Canadians via Twitter to "make sure you know how to protect yourself & your family" against the heat.

My thoughts are with the loved ones of those who have died in Quebec during this heat wave. The record temperatures are expected to continue in central & eastern Canada, so make sure you know how to protect yourself & your family: https://t.co/JSPPsU80x9 — Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) July 4, 2018

Algeria

Ouargla, Algeria, experienced the hottest reliably measured temperature ever in Africa at 124.3 on July 5. The city is the capital of the Ouargla Province in the Sahara Desert.

Temperatures of 131 hit Kebili, Tunisia, in 1931, but historians have their doubts about the record.

The heat has played a role in Algeria's recent human rights violations. In the past 14 months, the Algerian government expelled more than 13,000 migrants – including pregnant women and children – into the desert's blistering heat. Algerian officials forced hundreds of migrants at gunpoint into the desert every week to walk in temperatures up to 118 degrees, The Associated Press reported.

Scandinavia

In Sweden, temperatures caused at least 50 forest fires in different parts of the country – some north of the Arctic Circle.

Nearly 100 people were forced to evacuate their homes last week, according to Swedish officials. Jamtland, Vasterbotten, Gavleborg and Dalarna counties were hit hardest.

The Swedish government called for international assistance to fight the fires from the European Commission. Italy, France, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Portugal, Lithuania and Poland sent reinforcements including firefighters, vehicles, planes and helicopters to help put out the blazes.

Temperatures in Kvikkjokk soared to 90.5 Tuesday, an all-time high for the city and nearly 20 degrees higher than the country's normal July temperatures. In southern Sweden, Uppsala hit 93.9 degrees Monday, its highest since 1975.

In Norway, all-time records were reached Tuesday in Namsskogan and Mo I Rana. The small town of Snasa smashed its own mark with a temperature of 88.9 degrees on Monday.

In southern Finland, Turku hit 91.9, the hottest day since 1914.