Seoul braces for heatwave sweeping South Korea as death toll reaches 16

Trucks are dousing capital’s roads with water and nurses are checking on vulnerable people as heat heads westwards Seoul is bracing for its first ever “severe heatwave warning” on Tuesday, as South Korea reels from a deadly heatwave that has seen the country record its highest ever temperature. The south-eastern city of Yangsan reached an all-time national record of 42.5C on Sunday afternoon – the highest temperature measured in 122 ​years ​of weather observations – and now the heat is shifting westwards, approaching the densely populated capital of more than 9 million people, which is forecast to hit 38C on Tuesday followed by three sweltering days of 37C. South Korea has recorded 16 fatalities linked to heat and more than 2,000 people treated for heat-related illnesses since May, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, President Lee Jae Myung ​called on ‌officials to take necessary ‌measures to protect the daily ‌lives of people and inspect power systems as demand for airconditioning surges. “We need to make efforts for a fundamental overhaul of the national crisis ‌system, since this extreme weather is becoming norm