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New Delhi:Â North India is in the grip of an extreme heat wave with many states recording highest temperatures in years. Delhi recorded its hottest day in five years on Thursday with the maximum temperature soaring to 44.7 degree Celsius, which is 4 degrees above normal.
In Gujarat, two more persons succumbed to the heat wave taking the toll to four in the past two days.
Jaipur, too, experienced its hottest day in June in 33 years at 46.3 degree Celsius while Bikaner was burning at a steep 47.4 degree Celsius. In Uttar Pradesh too, there was no respite from the scorching heat, with the weatherman forecasting that the dry weather will continue over the state.
According to the MeT office in Lucknow, day temperatures shot up in Gorakhpur, Allahabad, Jhansi and Meerut divisions. Bhopal has also recorded the maximum temperature at 44.8 degrees, that is the highest this season and the highest this decade in the month of June.
Blistering heat wave conditions also prevailed in Punjab and Haryana, with the mercury rising up to several notches above normal in most parts of both the states. Haryana’s Hisar, the hottest place in the region, sizzled at 46 degrees Celsius, the MeT department in Chandigarh said.
In Punjab, Amritsar recorded a maximum of 45.6 degrees, five notches above normal, while Ludhiana and Patiala recorded a high of 45.4 and 44.8 degrees.
The Union Territory of Chandigarh recorded a maximum of 43.8 degrees Celsius, five notches above normal. In the hilly state of Himachal Pradesh, the lower reaches reeled under scorching heat, with Una sizzling at 44.3 degrees Celsius, five notches above normal. It was also the season’s hottest day in Jammu with a temperature of 43.6 degree Celsius.
It rained in Kerala at several places even though the Met department refused to immediately describe it as the arrival of monsoon, which is already late by five days. Monsoon normally hits Kerala on June 1.
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