Heatwave may continue over northern states till June 9

Heatwave conditions are likely to prevail over parts of northwest India till Thursday under the influence of dry and warm westerlies blowing from the direction of Pakistan, weather scientists said on Monday.

Banda and Fatehgarh in Uttar Pradesh were the hottest places in the country as they recorded the highest maximum temperatures of 46.8 degrees Celsius and 46.4 degrees Celsius respectively.

The mercury touched a maximum of 46.3 degrees in Rajasthan's Sriganganagar, while Khajuraho and Nowgong in Madhya Pradesh sizzled at 46 degrees Celsius.

Heatwave conditions are likely to prevail over Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Delhi till Thursday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The weather office has forecast heatwave conditions over Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu division, Himachal Pradesh, Vidarbha and north Jharkhand for the next two days.

Temperatures had dropped over northwest and central India under the influence of easterly winds and a western disturbance from May 21-31.

"However, since May 31 to June 2, the impact of easterlies at the lower level decreased and there has been increasing dry and warmer westerly from the direction of Pakistan, making areas of northwest and central India further dry and also warmer," a senior IMD official said.

Under the influence of strong southwesterly winds from the Bay of Bengal to northeast India, widespread rainfall is very likely over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim for the next five days, the weather office said.

The weatherman has also forecast fairly widespread rainfall with thunderstorms and lightning over Karnataka, Kerala, Mahe and Lakshadweep, and scattered rains over Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry over the next five days under the influence of westerly winds from the Arabian Sea over peninsular India.

The southwest monsoon, which reached Kerala on May 29, has entered a weak phase and is expected to pick up the pace from Tuesday and advance further.