Light rains in sun-scorched north India are likely to bring some relief in next three days, while heatwave conditions intensified on Wednesday in most parts of the country, including eastern states with Tripura declaring a 'state specific disaster'.
The national capital, parts of which reeled under heatwave conditions for the past few days, had some relief on Wednesday with strong winds and partly cloudy skies witnessed during the day.
Delhi, which had recorded above 40 degree-mark in the past few days, recorded a maximum of 38 degrees Celsius.
"The maximum temperature is likely to drop by another two to three degrees over the next two days in the city," a MeT official said.
Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh and Baripada in Odisha recorded the maximum temperature of 44.5 degrees Celsius, according to the India Meteorological Department.
According to IMD, heatwave conditions are prevailing in isolated pockets over Gangetic West Bengal since the last eight days; coastal Andhra Pradesh since the last six days; Bihar since the last five days; and Punjab and Haryana since the last two days.
Tripura, reeling under hot weather conditions since last week, on Wednesday decided to identity heatwave, sunstroke and sunburn as 'state specific disasters' and requested the people to take necessary steps to guard themselves against the weather.
Many places in Uttar Pradesh recorded the maximum temperature in the 40-45 degrees Celsius bracket. Hamirpur recorded a high of 43.2 degrees Celsius followed by Kushinagar 44.1 degrees, Jhansi 43.6 degrees, Agra 43.4 degrees and Kanpur 43 degrees Celsius, the MeT said.
The weather is likely to remain dry over eastern Uttar Pradesh while rain is expected at isolated places in the western part of the state, it said.
With dust storm and light rains hitting parts of east Rajasthan, the meteorological department predicted a dip of 2-4 degrees Celsius in the maximum temperature.
Dust storm conditions were witnessed in several areas in Bikaner and Jodhpur divisions.
Jaisalmer and Bikaner regions were hit by a strong dust storm on Wednesday. Residents in Ajmer, Jaipur and Bharatpur divisions also experienced dust storms, the MeT said.
Meanwhile, Suratgarh in Sriganganagar recorded a maximum of 19 mm rainfall in the last 24 hours.
The weather department has predicted thunderstorm with strong winds of 30-40 kmph and light to moderate rain at some places in Jaipur and Bharatpur division on Thursday.
The higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh received a fresh spell of snow, while many other parts were lashed by rains, with the weather office warning of heavy rainfall in the state on Wednesday.
The sky remained overcast in Shimla and surrounding areas with fog reducing the visibility to a few metres in the morning.
An appreciable fall has been witnessed in the minimum temperature across the state and Keylong in tribal Lahaul and Spiti district was the coldest recording a low of minus 0.1 degrees Celsius.
Bhuntar with 35 mm of rains was wettest in the region followed by Chamba 33 mm, Shimla 32 mm, Sundernagar 30 mm, Palampur 27 mm, sarahan 26 mm, Kukumseri and Bharmaur 23 mm each, Berthin 22 mm, Mandi and Dalhousie 20 mm each, Jubbarhatti 19 mm, Bilaspur 16 mm, Dharamshala 15.5 mm.
The MeT office in Shimla has warned of heavy rainfall, thunderstorm, lightning and hail storm in plains, low and mid hills on April 19 and thunderstorm and lightning at isolated places on April 20 and 21.
Many parts of Punjab and Haryana also received rains overnight leading to a dip in the temperature. Chandigarh, the common capital, received light rain (2.2 mm).
In Punjab, Ludhiana (13.2) mm, Patiala (2.5 mm), Bathinda (5.4 mm), Faridkot (8.4 mm), Hoshiarpur (4 mm), Jalandhar (3 mm) and Rupnagar (11.5 mm) were among other places to receive rain.
In Haryana, Ambala, Kurukshetra and Panchkula received light rain.
Notably, for the past over a week, the maximum temperatures in the two states and Chandigarh had been hovering above normal limits.
Following several days of scorching summer heat in Andhra Pradesh, the weather office forecast thunderstorms on April 21 and 22 in parts of the state that could bring some relief to people from the hot weather.
It forecast thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty winds with speeds of 30 to 40 kilometres/hour at isolated places over the north coastal, south coastal, Yanam and Rayalaseema regions.
The Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) has forecast severe heat wave conditions in one mandal and heat wave conditions in 98 more across the state on Wednesday.
Kerala also experienced searing heat on Wednesday with the temperature going above normal in Alappuzha, Kottayam, Kozhikode, Kollam and Thrissur districts.
West Bengal braced for another day of hot and discomforting weather as the MeT forecast heatwave conditions in different parts of the state.
Kolkata recorded the day's minimum temperature at 29.3 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal, the weather office said.
As several parts of Gangetic West Bengal saw temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius, the MeT has forecast heatwave conditions in pockets of north Bengal as well.
The weather office forecast heatwave conditions in some parts with severe heatwave conditions in isolated pockets of Gangetic West Bengal till Thursday.
Bankura recorded the highest temperature on Tuesday in the state at 44.1 degrees Celsius, while the mercury rose to 43.4 degrees Celsius at Panagarh air force station in West Bardhaman district.
Heatwave conditions prevailed in Bankura, Panagarh, Sriniketan (43 degrees Celsius) and Purulia (43.1), the weather office said.
The Himalayan town of Darjeeling recorded highest temperature at 24.6 degrees Celsius, 5.2 degrees above normal, while it was 42.8 degrees Celsius in Malda in the north Bengal plains, 7.1 notches above average, it said.
Meanwhile, the higher reaches of Kashmir continued to receive snowfall for the second consecutive day.
The upper reaches of the valley, including Keran and Machil, in the Kupwara district, Gurez, in the Bandipora district, and Sonamarg in the Ganderbal district, received light snowfall, officials said, adding that there are reports of snowfall in some other areas at the higher reaches of the Union territory.
Snowfall continued on the Zojila Pass along the Srinagar-Leh National Highway for the second day.
The plain areas, including Srinagar city, were lashed by overnight rains, bringing down the temperature, they said.
