Chandigarh:
Amritsar in Punjab on Wednesday recorded its hottest day in over three decades as the mercury shot to 47.2 degrees Celsius in the city while the rest of the region, too, saw temperatures hit blistering highs.
With a severe heat wave continuing across the region, Amritsar was hotter on Wednesday by eight degrees more than the normal, a MeT official said.
The Sikh shrine city's previous highest was recorded on May 21, 1978.
The maximum in Ludhiana on Wednesday was 46.2 degrees, a shade lower than the 46.5 degrees recorded in the city on May 27, 2010.
According to a MeT official, the industrial hub's all-time highest temperature was recorded on May 29, 1944, when the mercury had soared to 48.3 degrees.
The Union territory of Chandigarh saw the mercury touch 43.5 degrees to give the residents of the common capital of Punjab and Haryana their hottest day of the season so far.
The MeT office said that 'dust-raising winds' would occur at a few places in Punjab and Haryana over the coming two days although no immediate relief from the heat wave has been forecast.