Delhi, the national capital of India, on Wednesday recorded the highest-ever temperature in the country at 2.30 PM. The Mungeshpur area in Delhi recorded 52.3 degree Celsius, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). In the evening, the city received showers, bringing some respite from the extreme heatwave.
Besides this, Delhi has also reported its all-time high power demand of 8,302 megawatts (MW) amid a severe heatwave condition across major cities in north India.
Among other areas recording extremely high temperatures were Phalodi (51 degree Celsius) in Rajasthan and Haryana's Sirsa (50.3 degree Celsius). The weather office earlier warned of extreme heat in most parts of the national capital.
Temperatures over 50 degree Celsius are often considered rare in the world. The places that have recorded such high temperatures are mostly in the Middle East or the South Asia region.
Hottest countries in the world
In the past, countries like Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Israel, Iraq, Iran, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan as well as India have recorded temperatures above 50 degree Celsius. Besides them, the United States and Australia have also breached this mark in the past.
The highest official temperature registered so far is 56.7 degree Celsius, recorded on July 10, 1913, at Greenland Ranch, Death Valley, California in the US, as per the Guinness World Records.
In 2012, though, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) had invalidated the record for the highest recorded temperature -- 58°C -- about 100 years ago in Libya's El Azizia.
In Africa, the hottest known temperature is 55 degree Celsius, recorded in Tunisia's Kebili in 1931, Al Jazeera reported.
Further, it stated that Iran holds the record for Asia's hottest official temperature -- 54 degree Celsius -- recorded in 2017. In Australia, a temperature of 50.7 degree Celsius was recorded at Oodnadatta on January 2, 1960.
In Europe, the highest temperature recorded ever was 48.8 degree Celsius on the Italian island of Sicily. This was on August 11, 2021. Meanwhile, the maximum temperature in the United Kingdom had reached 40.2 degree Celsius on July 19, 2022.
