Severe heat wave set to hit Delhi

NEW DELHI: The national Capital is already reeling under hot and dry weather conditions, a heat wave is expected to grip Delhi with the mercury likely to breach the 45-degree mark. Hot and dry conditions prevailed in the city on Wednesday. Delhiites woke up to a hot morning, with the maximum temperature expected to hover around 44 degrees Celsius. "Heatwave conditions are expected in some pockets of the city with the temperature soaring up to 45 degrees. Such conditions exist when the maximum temperature goes up five degrees above the season's average," said an official. The weatherman has predicted that the city is unlikely to get respite from the scorching heat over the next two-three days.

Dry weather conditions are expected to continue over entire North and Northwest India. With this, temperatures are set to increase over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, West Uttar Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan.

On Tuesday, Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 41.8 degrees Celsius, a notch above normal, and a minimum

temperature of 23 degrees

Celsius. The maximum temperature is likely to shoot up to 44 degrees today and the weather office has predicted a maximum temperature of 45 degrees for the national capital rest of this week.

MeT officials had earlier predicted that the mercury will continue its upward trend this week. Private weather agency Skynet had said that weather will remain dry throughout the remaining days of May and a few areas of the Delhi-NCR region may witness heatwave conditions.