Heat wave grips North India, red-colour alert issued in Delhi-NCR

New Delhi, June 01: A heat wave has gripped the entire country with Delhi being one of the most impacted cities. A "red category" alert has been issued for the NCR and several states around it as the city recorded the hottest day of the season.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) uses a colour-coded scale - green, yellow, amber and red - to denote the severity of weather condition, with red being the most extreme.

According to IMD, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, west and east Uttar Pradesh, parts of Rajasthan and Vidarbha are covered by the red warning.

On Friday, Sri Ganganagar in western Rajasthan recorded highest maximum temperature of 49.6 degree Celsius. The national capital region also sweltered under the hottest day of the season, with the mercury rising to 47 degrees Celsius in some areas.

The weather agency has predicted a heat wave to severe heat wave conditions over parts of the northwest, central and adjoining east and peninsular India during the next four to five days.