High temp recorded at lowest spot on Earth: The Dead Sea

JERUSALEM, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Global warming or not, the weather this summer is steaming all over. But an especially hellish high was reached over the weekend at the lowest spot on Earth: the Dead Sea.

That mercury-scorching high broke a 70-year record, according to meteorologists, and is second only to the highest-ever Israeli record of 54 degrees Celsius measured in the northern Jordan Valley in the summer of 1942.

Crop workers in the nearby fields of Israel's Kibbutz Almog, still labored in 51.4 degrees Celsius heat, according to Israel Channel Two television.

The week-long Middle East swelter is expected to break on Sunday night, and temperatures are expected to continue to fall in coming days.