As of Wednesday, April 22, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heatwave conditions at isolated places in Delhi from today, with maximum temperatures expected to climb between 41C and 44C through April 24.
The IMD has also issued a yellow alert for the national capital.
But Delhi is not the only one facing extreme heat. Heatwave conditions are sweeping across large parts of India, with temperatures expected to rise in the days ahead.
According to the IMD, a fresh spell of heatwave conditions that began in Haryana on April 18 has since spread to Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and East Madhya Pradesh. Now, the wave is set to push further east and into central India over the next three days.
Temperatures across Vidarbha, Marathwada, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh have been ranging between 40C and 45C.
WHAT STATES ARE ON HEATWAVE ALERT?
The IMD has issued warnings for an extended stretch of heatwave conditions across multiple states this week.
East Uttar Pradesh is under alert from April 21 to 25. Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and West Uttar Pradesh face heatwave conditions from April 22 to 25, while Odisha and Rajasthan are expected to see severe heat between April 23 and 25.
Gangetic West Bengal and Bihar have been flagged for April 21 and 22, with Vidarbha facing a heatwave spell from April 24 to 26.
In Delhi, it’s not only the day-hours that’s making people sweat. Even the night temperatures have risen, making the few hours of cooling absent. Forecasts show that the national capital will see night temperatures between 21C and 25C through April 24.
WARM NIGHTS FOR MANY STATES
Worryingly, Delhi is not the only one.
The IMD’s April–June 2026 seasonal outlook had already flagged a nationwide rise in minimum, or nighttime, temperatures. The April 21 bulletin confirms this.
It notes that minimum temperatures across East Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh are running appreciably above normal.
Warmer nights mean the body gets less time to recover from daytime heat stress, which is a factor that significantly raises the risk of heatstroke and other heat-related illness, especially for the elderly, children, outdoor workers, and those with existing health conditions.
The IMD’s seasonal outlook for April to June had already predicted above-normal heatwave days across east, central, northwest India, and the southeast peninsula, and the current spell suggests that forecast is playing out on schedule.
With May historically being the peak of India’s heat season, worries persist about how much hotter the temperatures can get by the time we arrive at the peak that is still weeks away.
