2 min readBengaluruApr 15, 2026 03:46 AM IST
South peninsula, central and northwest India regions are bracing for heatwave conditions expected to last for the next one week, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday.
The MeT department declares a heatwave when the maximum temperature recorded over a location crosses 40 degrees Celsius (over the plains) or rises by 4.5 degrees Celsius from normal. The threshold temperature is 37 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius along the coast and over the hills, respectively.
The IMD said the heatwave spell across Telangana, Rayalaseema, north interior Karnataka, Madhya Maharashtra, Vidarbha, Marathwada, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand and western Rajasthan will persist till April 20. This is the season’s first widespread heatwave to affect the country. During the next few days, hot and humid conditions will prevail over these regions with day temperatures expected to remain 4 to 5 degrees Celsius above normal, the MeT department said.
Over the last two days, many areas along the central India region have recorded high temperatures. Akola in Maharashtra recorded 43.8 degrees Celsius on Monday. So far, April has not seen significant pre-monsoon showers over southern and southwest India regions.
Currently, there prevails an anticyclone system over Maharashtra and adjoining Karnataka, in addition to two upper-air cyclonic circulations — one over Jharkhand-Gangetic West Bengal and another over southeast Pakistan-Rajasthan.
In view of an approaching stream of western disturbance, the Met office said that light to moderate intensity rainfall will affect extreme northern India, that is, J&K, Ladakh-Gilgit-Baltistan-Muzaffarabad till April 18. Similarly, Himachal Pradesh will receive light showers during April 17-19. Thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds are forecast over Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh on April 17 and 18.
