Delhi stares at intense heatwave as temperature to go up to 44 degrees in next few days; yellow alert issued

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The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted an intense heatwave for Delhi ahead, with the temperature touching 44 degrees Celsius in the coming week. The weather unit has also issued a yellow alert for the national capital for the next four days.

IMD has said that the high temperature in the national capital will be coupled with high humidity, adding to the sticky heat. On top of that, the nights are also going to be hot and uncomfortable.

Not just Delhi, the heatwave is likely to affect a lot of areas in North India. The Met Department has said that the heatwave in North West India, specifically in West Rajasthan, would start on 9 June. In South Punjab, South Haryana, South Uttar Pradesh, and North Madhya Pradesh, the heat wave is expected to begin on 10 June.

The city recorded a maximum temperature of 40 degrees on Saturday. IMD also said that thunderstorms are possible in the city after Thursday and that they would help bring the heatwave conditions down.

During the last few weeks, Delhi and its surrounding places have witnessed multiple thunderstorms and rainfall episodes, resulting in intense dust storms.

Meanwhile, a yellow alert has also been issued for Mumbai as the city braces for heavy rainfall during the ongoing monsoon season. A red alert had earlier been issued for Mumbai as the weather experts were confident of very heavy rainfall to lash the city. However, with the rainfall now subsiding, the alert is back to yellow.

"It is important to understand that the warning issued for the next 24 hours is a Yellow Alert. Meanwhile, a Red Alert was issued for an intense spell of rainfall expected to last 2–3 hours. That particular spell is now subsiding, which is why it was categorised as a nowcast warning," IMD Scientist Sushma Nair was quoted by the media as saying.