Delhi schools sound alarm – and water bell – as India sizzles in brutal heatwave
The India Meteorological Department has issued a ‘yellow alert’ for New Delhi, with temperatures expected to rise to a high of 44 degrees
Summer heat in the world’s most populous nation can be brutal – putting millions of people at risk, with nearly 11,000 people dying due to heatstroke between 2012 and 2021, according to government data.
A heatwave in May 2024 in New Delhi saw temperatures match the capital’s previous record high: 49.2 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) clocked in 2022.
That year was India’s hottest year since thorough records began in 1901, with sizzling temperatures following a global pattern of extreme weather driven by climate change.
The temperature on Wednesday morning in Delhi and the wider sprawling metropolitan region of 30 million residents was a relatively balmy 29.4 degrees.
But weather forecasters predict temperatures will hit 41 to 43 degrees later on Wednesday, and rise to 42 to 44 degrees later in the week.