South Korea to witness heat wave-easing rain until Tuesday

Seoul, July 14 (IANS) The state weather agency on Monday forecast on-and-off rainfall across South Korea until Tuesday night, with downpours of 30 to 50 millimetres per hour expected in some regions, including the east coast of Gangwon Province.

Rain will fall in Gangwon, North Chungcheong and Gyeongsang provinces on Monday, and spread to drench most parts of the country until Tuesday afternoon, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said.

In particular, the central and northern parts of Gangwon's east coast should brace for heavy rain of 30 to 50 mm per hour between Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning, reports Yonhap news agency, quoting the KMA.

It forecast a two-day precipitation of 50 to 100 mm on Ulleung Island, 20 to 60 mm in the Gyeongsang provinces, 10 to 50 mm in Seoul, western Gangwon, Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces, and 5 to 20 mm on Jeju and Yellow Sea islands.

The agency advised people to avoid going to the east coast beaches until Tuesday due to strong winds of over 70 kph and high waves.

The rainfall will temporarily abbreviate the prolonged heat waves nationwide, but hot and humid weather will return thereafter, the KMA said.

Last week, the heat wave gripped the country, pushing up the daily maximum temperature to 37 Degrees Celsius in some regions, according to the state weather agency.

Seoul and almost all parts of the nation were put under a heat wave advisory or warning over the past week, due to the influx of hot and humid air from the southwest.

Keeping this in mind, the labour ministry on Friday announced that employees working outdoors during heat waves will be guaranteed longer breaks starting next week, following a series of heat-related worker deaths.

Under the new regulation, employers will be obliged to give their outdoor workers at least 20 minutes of rest every two hours when the perceived temperature reaches 33 Degrees Celsius or higher.

The measure comes after several outdoor workers died earlier this month during an unusually severe heat wave.

--IANS

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