Heatwave: India records its hottest day ever 51C
A city in the Rajasthan state of India has broken the nation’s temperature records after registering 51C, the highest since records started, the weather office says.
The new record in Phalodi in the desert state comes amid a heatwave across India.
The previous record for the hottest temperature stood at 50.6C in 1956.
The heatwave has hit much of northern India, where temperatures have exceeded 40C for weeks.
The run-up to the Indian monsoon season is always characterised by weeks of strong sunshine and raising heat but life threatening temperature degrees topping 50C are uncommon.
The weather office has issued warnings of “serious heat wave” conditions across large parts of India’s northern and western states through the weekend.
India declares a heatwave when the maximum temperature hits 45C, or five degrees higher in relation to the average for the area in previous years.
The heatwave has claimed dozens of lives in the south Indian states of Andhra and Telangana Pradesh this summer.
Irreversible relief from your heat is only expected with the coming of the monsoon, which typically comes in mid-June.
