5 dead in Maha as central India sizzles

Five people have died of heat stroke in Maharashtra and 40-plus temperatures have led to heat wave warning in parts of the state. Districts in central and north Maharashtra are worst affected.

Village Bhira in Raigad district has been in the news for unusually high temperature at 46.5 degrees, but the Indian Meteorological Department says it will send a team to verify it.

Akola recorded 44.1 degrees Celsius and Wardha, Nagpur and Chandrapur have recorded 43 degrees. Many other parts of India are suffering record temperatures at the start of summer.

Barmer in Rajasthan recorded a high of 43.4 degrees Celsius while Narnaul in Haryana sizzled at 42 degrees, nine degrees above normal.

The temperature in Ludhiana in Punjab is seven degrees above normal.

In Uttar Pradesh, the maximum temperature crossed 40 degrees in Varanasi, Allahabad, Hamirpur and Agra. It is the hottest day of the year yet in Delhi, with the temperature six degrees above normal at 38.2 degrees Celsius.

The temperature in Uttarakhand's capital, Dehradun, as well as Srinagar, has been recorded much above the normal for this part of the year.

There are predictions of a "mild heat wave" in Maharashtra and Gujarat. In the past few days, it has been hotter than 40 degrees in Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh. In Rajasthan, Barmer was the hottest with mercury touching 43.4 degrees Celsius, followed by 43 degrees Celsius in Churu. Heat wave conditions will prevail at isolated regions in Gujarat before temperatures across the state return to normal in 2-3 days, according to the Met Department.