People cross an intersection in the Shibuya district of Tokyo on May 4, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)

TOKYO - Japan's average spring temperature this year was the highest on record since comparable figures became available in 1898 as the latest sign of global warming, the weather agency said Thursday.

As temperatures started to rise in March this year, cherry trees in the capital Tokyo came into bloom 10 days earlier than usual, the earliest time on record since observations began in 1953, matching records seen in 2020 and 2021, according to the JMA

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said the average temperature for the March-to-May period was 1.59 degrees Celsius higher than the mean temperature for the same three-month period over the past 30 years, exceeding the previous record high logged in 1998 when the difference was 1.24 degrees Celsius.

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Weather officials said average temperatures have been rising in recent years, but it was exceptionally warm this spring, attributing the unusually warm spring to global warming, as well as a jet stream flowing north of Japan which prevented cold air from reaching the country.

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As temperatures started to rise in March this year, cherry trees in the capital Tokyo came into bloom 10 days earlier than usual, the earliest time on record since observations began in 1953, matching records seen in 2020 and 2021, according to the JMA.