The intense heat wave sweeping through many parts of the country has claimed 1242 lives over the last few days, with Andhra Pradesh and Telangana bearing the brunt as these two states account for most of the deaths.

As per the latest figures, the toll due to heat wave in Andhra Pradesh stood at 852 while it was 340 in Telangana -- together accounting for 1192 deaths. In Telangana, 74 deaths were reported since yesterday.

The heat wave is likely continue for another two days in Telangana and three days in Coastal Andhra Pradesh, said Y K Reddy, Director of Meteorological Centre, Hyderabad.

He said the deaths could be taking place due to exposure to heat for long durations.

The plains of Uttar Pradesh continued to reel under scorching heat with mercury in Agra today crossing the 46 degrees mark, making it the hottest place in the state.

The heat wave conditions continued to sweep Haryana and Punjab as well, with maximum temperatures today again hovering between 41-45 degrees celsius at most places.

In Andhra Pradesh, Prakasam district recorded the highest number of deaths at 202. Guntur district saw death of 130 people followed by Visakhapatnam (112), Vizianagaram (78) and Nellore 74.

The toll in other districts was East Godavari-90, West Godavari 10, Krishna 49, Chittore 29, Kadapa 22, Kurnool 17, Anantapur 14, Srikaukulam 25.

The government had issued an alert to doctors to be ready to provide medical assistance to the heat wave-affected people, he said.

In Telangana, Nalgonda recorded the maximum number of deaths at 99, followed by Khammam 72, Karimnagar 45 and Mahabubnagar 37, a senior official of State Disaster Management Department told PTI.

Medak recorded 29 deaths, Adilabad 22, Nizamabad and Warangal 11 each followed by Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy at 7 each, the official said.

43 deaths due to heat wave are reported from Odisha while seven have died in Gujarat.