Heatwave conditions in parts of Delhi saw temperatures soaring to 44-45 degrees Celsius on Thursday as moisture-carrying easterly winds made way for hot and dry westerlies.
The maximum temperature at the Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi's base station, rose to 42.5 degrees Celsius. It was 41.4 degrees Celsius on Wednesday. The maximum temperature at Najafgarh (44.7 degrees Celsius), Mungeshpur (45.4 degrees Celsius) and Pitampura (44 degrees Celsius) settled at least five degrees Celsius above normal temperature.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert, warning of a heatwave at most places in the capital on Friday and Saturday.
An orange alert has been issued to caution people about a severe heatwave on Sunday.
The IMD uses four colour codes for weather warnings -- green (no action needed), yellow (watch and stay updated), orange (be prepared) and red (take action).
The mercury is predicted to touch the 45-degree mark at the Safdarjung Observatory on Sunday. Temperatures may leap to 46-47 degrees Celsius at isolated places, weather experts said.
A heatwave spell was predicted over Delhi from Sunday, but easterly winds prevailing in the national capital under the impact of Cyclone Asani shielded the city against it.
Back-to-back patchy rain, thunderstorms, and strong winds had provided some respite from the intense heat last week.
Delhi had witnessed a hot and dry March, gauging no rainfall against the normal of 15.9 mm. It got 0.3 mm of rainfall in April against a monthly average of 12.2 mm.
A heatwave at the month-end had sent the mercury soaring to 46 and 47 degrees Celsius in several parts of Delhi.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Acropolis In Athens Shut For Several Hours Daily. Heat Is The Reason Heatwaves, Floods Disrupt Education, Increase Learning Loss: UNESCO Report Retail Prices Of Tomates In Delhi Surge To Rs 70-80 Per Kg Due To Heatwave CrowdStrike Falcon Sensor: The Culprit Behind World's Biggest IT Outage Massive Worldwide Microsoft Outage: Flights, Markets, Stock Exchange Down Microsoft 'Blue Screen Of Death' Outage: Full List Of Services Hit In India Time For Rihanna's Fenty To Take A Bow As It Partners With The Olympics Delhi Cops Crack Kidney Sale Racket Operating Across 5 States Y2K Bug: The Last Time There Was A Global PC Outage Of This Scale Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.