Seoul, Aug 31 (IANS): A heat wave advisory for Seoul was lifted on Saturday after 38 days, marking the retreat of an exceptionally hot summer this year.

In addition to Seoul, a heat wave advisory for the nearby city of Incheon was also lifted on Saturday after 38 days, while advisories for the central cities of Daejeon and Sejong were lifted after 42 days.

Of the 183 weather zones across the country, a heat wave advisory is still in place in 95 places, though all are heat wave "watches," which are a lower degree than "warnings", reports Yonhap news agency.

August is expected to go down as a record hot month in the country's history, with the average nationwide temperature reaching 28 degrees Celsius on August 1-30, the highest for the same period since the current weather monitoring system was introduced in 1973.

The average number of "heat wave days," or days when the daily high was 33 degrees Celsius or higher, was 23.8 this year, second only after 29.6 days in 1994, while the number of tropical nights, or nights when the lowest temperature was 25 degrees or higher, was 20.2, No. 1 on record.