The Israel Meteorological Service (IMS) said Monday that this summer in the country was the hottest since records began in 1950.

According to an IMS statement, the average national daily temperature reached 29 degrees Celsius between June and August this year, about one degree higher than the previous record set 12 years ago.

The highest temperature recorded in Israel between June and August this year was 46.7 degrees Celsius, measured in the Sea of Galilee region in northeastern Israel, it said.

The statement said that the main reason for the abnormal heat is unprecedented sea temperatures, which reached 32 degrees Celsius on some days.

(Cover photo: Men shower at a public beach as they cool off from a summer heat wave in Tel Aviv, Israel, July 13, 2023. /CFP)