TOKYO, April 15, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Temperatures in the northern Japanese city of Sapporo on Monday passed 25 degrees Celsius (77 Fahrenheit) at the earliest point in the year ever recorded, a weather agency official said.

"The temperature in Sapporo hit 26 degrees... and is still rising," Shuichi Yoshida, an official at the regional headquarters of the Japan Meteorological Agency told AFP. It is the earliest that temperatures in the city have passed 25 degrees Celsius "since records began there in 1877", he said.