Weathermen predict fall in temperatures across northern India

New Delhi: In a much-needed relief from intense heat wave sweeping across the nation, MeT department officials on Sunday predicted a drop in temperature across northern parts of the country.

Most of the nation is reeling under scorching heat as temperatures crossed 40 degrees Celsius at several places.

A met department official, Naresh Kumar, predicted that intense temperatures in northern India will drop by up to four degrees in the next few days.

"Presently the temperature (is) 2-4 degrees above normal over north-west India adjoining Himalaya regions and western disturbance is approaching towards the Indian domain," he said.

"Then what we are expecting, it will give (good) weather from tomorrow onwards. If you talk about the Uttarakhand, tomorrow there may be the isolated type of precipitation and it will increase day after tomorrow and similarly we are expecting the precipitation over adjoining plains, over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi regions and under the influence of this precipitation, temperature will fall gradually by 2-4 degrees over this region," he added.

`Western Disturbance` is a phenomenon that occurs across the South Asian nations of India, Pakistan and Nepal. It refers to an extra-tropical storm that brings sudden rain and snow to the northwestern parts of the subcontinent.

Even though, hottest months are May and June, some states are already reeling under extreme heat, forcing authorities to take necessary steps.

Residents of Delhi are being forced to stay indoors due to the blistering heat. Those who went out of their homes were seen making a beeline for drinks and ice cream stalls.

"We had come to visit India Gate, but it is so hot that we have decided to go back just after five minutes of arriving here. The weather is so bad that we can`t even step out," said a tourist, Chanchal.

Winter this year too was lighter than before with comparatively higher temperatures. The Ministry of Earth Sciences attributes the overall hotter climate to the El Nino effect.

El Nino is a warming of sea-surface temperatures in the Pacific. It can lead to scorching weather across Asia and east Africa, but cause heavy rains and floods in South America.