East, west Japan to see hotter than average weather

TOKYO (Reuters) - East and west Japan will see hotter than average weather next week, the nation's official forecaster said on Friday, which may pressure the country's power grid as people crank up the air-conditioning.

There is a 60 percent chance of hotter-than-average weather in eastern and western Japan, which includes the three major metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, the Japan Meteorological Agency said in its weekly forecast.

Sunnier weather and less rainfall than usual are projected in most parts of the nation in the week from Saturday.

Higher temperatures and humidity in the summer typically lead to greater use of air-conditioners, boosting electricity demand.

Temperatures have generally stayed hotter than average throughout Japan this month, and the official forecaster predicted on Thursday that Japan would see mostly hotter-than-average weather from August to October.

Japan's third-biggest utility, Chubu Electric Power Co, saw power demand hit a record high on Thursday as a heatwave scorched the central city of Nagoya.

Hokuriku Electric Power Co, which serves the region just north of Chubu, and western Japan-based Chugoku Electric reported similar record demand levels earlier this week.

The following figures show the outlook probability in percentage terms for the week starting on Saturday:

COOLER NORMAL HOTTER