There was no relief from the heatwave conditions in north and central regions of India even as monsoon advanced in the southern state of Kerala on Sunday.
The national capital reeled under scorching conditions as the maximum temperature settled at 43.8 degrees Celsius, four notches above the season's average. The IMD has forecast heatwave conditions for Monday as well in the city with clear skies.
The weatherman has warned that heatwave conditions will prevail in north and central India next week, and predicted "severe heatwave" in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan over the next two days.
On Sunday, Sri Ganganagar in western Rajasthan was the hottest place in the country at 48.5 degrees Celsius, while Churu and Kota districts of the state followed close behind, recording a maximum temperature of 48.3 degrees Celsius each.
Heatwave conditions continued in Punjab and Haryana as Narnaul (Haryana) settled at 47 degrees, four notches above normal limits, while Bhiwani and Hisar also sizzled at 45.9 degrees Celsius and 45.3 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Chandigarh, the joint capital of the two states, recorded a maximum temperature of 42.7 degrees Celsius.
In Punjab, Amritsar recorded a hot day at 44 degrees Celsius, four notches above normal. Ludhiana and Patiala also recorded four notches above normal maximum temperature at 44 degrees Celsius and 44.4 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Dry weather conditions prevailed in Uttar Pradesh with state capital Lucknow recording a maximum temperature of 43.1 degrees Celsius, three degrees above normal.
Allahabad was the hottest city in the state, where the mercury settled at 47.7 degrees Celsius, seven notches above the normal. Kanpur recorded a high of 45.1 degrees Celsius, while in Varanasi it was 45 degrees Celsius.
Jammu reeled under heatwave conditions, recording a high of 43.1 degrees Celsius, while in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh heatwave conditions prevailed, despite rains in isolated parts in the Saturday evening.
Kalpa received 4 mm rain, followed by Dalhousie at 3 mm, Kufri at 1 mm and Bhuntar at 0.6 mm.
Una continued to be the hottest place in the state with maximum temperature of 43.2 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, in the southern state of Kerala, there was moderate rainfall in several parts of the state on Sunday, a day after monsoon arrived, even as a low pressure area formed over the Arabian Sea.
The Meteorological Department said the low pressure was expected to intensify into a depression in the next two days and subsequently, into a cyclone.
The weather report also predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall (115.6-204.4 mm) in isolated places of northern Malappuram and Kozhikode on June 12.
After a delay of a week, the monsoon hit the Kerala coast on Saturday, marking the official commencement of the four-month rainfall season in the country. This has also delayed its arrival in different parts of the country.
A delay in the arrival of monsoon has pushed the country's rainfall deficiency in the first nine days of June to 45 per cent, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
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