Mercury soars in Delhi to hit 45-degree Celsius mark, IMD issues 'red' warning

Heat wave conditions continued unabated in Delhi even as the MeT department on Friday issued a "red-colour" warning for the national capital. It also predicted that the maximum temperature may hit the 45-degree Celsius mark by late afternoon.

The IMD has four colour-coded messages -- green, yellow, amber and red. Green indicates normal conditions while red denotes extreme weather situations. A red-code warning has been issued for the national capital, the website of the India Meteorological Department said.

On Thursday, the MeT department recorded a high of 46.8 degree Celsius, the highest in five years. The Safdarjung Observatory had recorded a maximum of 44.7 degrees Celsius, the highest for the season so far. The minimum temperature had settled at 26.8 degrees Celsius.

In large areas, a heat wave is declared when the maximum temperature is 45 degrees Celsius for two consecutive days and the severe heat wave is when the mercury touches the 47-degree mark for two days on the trot. In small areas, like the national capital, a heat wave is declared if the temperature soars to 45 degrees Celsius even for a day, India Meteorological Department's regional weather forecasting chief Kuldeep Srivastav said.