
People in northern India are struggling with an unrelenting, weeks-long heatwave, with temperature in India’s capital soaring to a national record-high of 52.3 degrees Celsius (126.1 Fahrenheit), the government’s weather bureau said.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD), which reported “severe heatwave conditions”, recorded the temperature in the New Delhi suburb of Mungeshpur on Wednesday afternoon, smashing the previous national record in the desert of Rajasthan by more than one degree Celsius.
Rajasthan’s Phalodi town previously held the all-time heat record, hitting 51C (124F) in 2016. India declares a heatwave whenever temperatures are above 45C (113 F).
The brutal weather has forced schools to close in several…