According to the IMD, heatwave to severe heatwave conditions are expected to prevail over Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha and parts of Andhra Pradesh.
Uttar Pradesh under red alert amid severe heatwave
The Regional Meteorological Centre in Lucknow has issued a red alert for 10 districts in Uttar Pradesh for Friday, warning of “severe” to “very severe” heatwave conditions.
The red alert has been issued for Banda, Chitrakoot, Kaushambi, Prayagraj, Fatehpur, Pratapgarh, Mirzapur, Varanasi, Bhadohi and Jaunpur districts. An orange alert has also been sounded for 34 districts, including Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Agra, Meerut and Mathura, while 17 districts remain under yellow alert.
Banda recorded the highest temperature in the country at 47.6 degrees Celsius on Thursday.
Delhi under orange alert
Delhi recorded a warmer start to Friday, with the minimum temperature settling at 29.3 degrees Celsius.
The Safdarjung weather station recorded a minimum temperature of 29.3 degrees Celsius, which was 2.6 degrees above normal.
Palam recorded 28.7 degrees Celsius, 1.6 degrees above normal, while Lodhi Road recorded 27 degrees Celsius, 2 degrees above normal. Ridge and Ayanagar recorded minimum temperatures of 28.6 degrees Celsius and 28.8 degrees Celsius, respectively, both above the seasonal average.
Heatwave conditions intensify across north and central India
Apart from Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, several other states are also expected to witness intense heatwave conditions over the coming days.
Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Vidarbha are expected to remain under persistent heatwave conditions through the week, while Odisha, Jharkhand, Telangana and Bihar are also likely to witness extreme heat in isolated pockets.
Warm night conditions are likely to prevail over Odisha, Bihar and Vidarbha, adding to discomfort levels, while hot and humid weather conditions are expected over Gangetic West Bengal, Odisha and Tamil Nadu over the next few days.
The IMD has said there is likely to be no significant change in maximum temperatures across most parts of the country till May 27.
Rain, thunderstorms likely in several regions
While north and central India continue to reel under extreme heat, several parts of northeast, east and south India are expected to receive rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds.
Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura are likely to continue witnessing rainfall activity over the next few days. Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim may receive very heavy rainfall on May 22 and 24.
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and parts of Karnataka are also likely to receive light to moderate rainfall along with thunderstorms and gusty winds till May 27.
The Met Department has predicted thunderstorms and gusty winds over Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal through the week.
Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are likely to witness isolated rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and gusty winds over the next two days.
