Sizzling heat continues, Delhi sees record-breaking 45.7 °C

Vast swathes of the country continued to reel under intense heat, Delhi witnessing its hottest day in a decade for the month of May on Thursday.

New Delhi: Vast swathes of the country continued to reel under intense heat, with capital Delhi witnessing its hottest day in a decade for the month of May with a record-breaking 45.7 degrees Celsius on Thursday. Delhi`s temperature was highest for the month of May since 2003. The city recorded a minimum temperature of 31.4 degrees Celsius and the maximum and minimum humidity settled at 41 and 18 per cent respectively. Sizzling heat maintained its grip over Punjab and Haryana region, where Amritsar was hottest in three decades with a maximum of 48 degrees Celsius. The mercury remained largely above normal in most parts of the region. Temperature retained an upward trend in Rajasthan also, where Sriganganagar continued to be the hottest place with a maximum of 48.6 degrees Celsius, followed by Churu, Bikaner, Jaisalmer and Barmer, which recorded highs of 47.3, 46.5, 45.9 and 44.4 degrees Celsius respectively, Met department said. Capital Jaipur recorded a maximum of 43.9 degrees, while it was 42.2 degrees Celsius in Ajmer. Summer woes multiplied for people in Uttar Pradesh owing to unscheduled power cuts, and protests were reported against long electricity outages from various places. Banda continued to be the hottest place with a maximum of 46.8 degrees. Mercury hovered above normal in most parts of the state, including the Meerut, Jhansi, Agra, Allahabad, Kanpur, Bareilly and Moradabad divisions. People in Gujarat, however, may get some respite from scorching heat in days to come as according to the Met department, the mercury is likely to come down by at least two notches due to westerly winds. Acute heat wave conditions have been prevailing at various places over past few days and the mercury has touched 44 degrees Celsius in some areas of the state, Met officials said. Odisha also continued to reel under blistering heat and the mercury in western parts of the state settled largely above 45 degrees. Talcher town remained the hottest place with a maximum of 47.2 degrees, followed by Bolangir 46.6 and Titlagarh 46.5 degrees Celsius. Temperature in Nagpur, which registered an all-time high of 47.9 degrees Celsius yesterday, came down today and settled at 46.6 degrees Celsius. Heat wave, however, continued to sweep across the entire Vidarbha region of Maharashtra where mercury settled above 45 degrees in most places. Chandrapur was the hottest place in the state with a maximum temperature of 47.3 degrees. PTI