The India Meteorological Department on Saturday issued a heatwave warning for Delhi till Tuesday, with maximum temperatures expected to be between 40 degrees Celsius and 42 degrees Celsius.

The weather agency also issued a heatwave warning for Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, the Hindustan Times reported.

On Friday, the national capital recorded a maximum temperature of 38.4 degrees Celsius, which was 4.4 degrees Celsius above normal. The minimum temperature was 19.5 degree Celsius.

The temperature is expected to reach a maximum of 40 degrees Celsius on Saturday, with surface winds and heatwave conditions.

The agency declares a heatwave for a region when the temperature crosses 40 degrees Celsius in the plains, 37 degrees Celsius in coastal areas and 30 degrees Celsius in the hills.

Meteorologists have attributed the conditions to warm and dry westerly winds, The Times of India reported.

“The days to come will get winds with a prominent westerly component,” the newspaper quoted meteorologist Mahesh Palawat as saying. “During summers, westerly winds become warm and dry, so the maximum temperature will increase, and there are fair chances of heatwaves or isolated heatwaves over the next few days.”

The weather department said on March 31 that most parts of eastern and central India, the plains in the northwestern part of the country, as well as the north and east peninsula are likely to experience “above-normal” number of heatwave days between April and June.

This year, India experienced the hottest February since 1901. The weather department started maintaining the records in 1901.

The department noted that there was an increase of 1.34 degrees Celsius in the average temperature in February, up from the normal of 20.70 degrees Celsius to 22.04 degrees Celsius.

In 2024, India witnessed 536 heatwave days, the highest in 14 years. From April to June, around 40% of the country had experienced double the number of heatwave days than usual.

At the national level, the weather agency calculates the total heatwave days as a culmination of such weather conditions in all 36 meteorological sub-divisions. For instance, a heatwave day, when experienced in five sub-divisions, is counted as five heatwave days.

Due to this, the country had recorded 40,000 suspected cases of heatstroke and over 100 heat-related deaths during one of its hottest and longest heatwaves.

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