Heatwaves: Following 6th hottest year since 1901, warnings issued for 2019

With heatwave conditions affecting regions across India, 6,167 heat-related deaths were reported between 2010 and 2018

Even before the weather department issued heatwave warnings on April 1, 2019, on complete onset of summer, temperatures in March 2019 had soared to unusually high levels across India. Consider the following recent reports:

• Kerala was put on high alert after 288 sunburn/sunstroke cases were registered in the state since March 1, 2019. There were four suspected cases of sunstroke deaths in the month and temperatures reached 40 degrees Celsius ( degrees Celcius) in the northern district of Palakkad, The Indian Express reported on March 28, 2019.
• In Bengaluru,