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India reported its highest-ever temperature at 52.3 degrees Celsius on Wednesday. A temperature monitoring station in Delhi's Mungeshpur reported this figure at 2.30 pm, reports NDTV.
Explaining the reason behind the rising temperature, India Meteorological Department (IMD) regional head Kuldeep Srivastava said the city's outskirts are the first areas to be hit by hot winds from Rajasthan.
"Parts of Delhi are particularly susceptible to the early arrival of these hot winds, worsening the already severe weather. Areas like Mungeshpur, Narela and Najafgarh are the first to experience the full force of these hot winds," he told news agency PTI.
The temperature was more than nine degrees higher than expected, the second day of record-breaking heat, and pushed up the mercury by more than a degree from the 2002 record of 49.2 degrees Celsius.
It also rained briefly in Delhi on Wednesday evening, which is likely to raise the humidity level.
The IMD issued a red alert health notice for Delhi, with an estimated population of more than 30 million people. The alert warns there is a "very high likelihood of developing heat illness and heat stroke in all ages," with "extreme care needed for vulnerable people."
India is no stranger to searing summer temperatures, but years of scientific research have found climate change is causing heatwaves to become longer, more frequent and more intense.