Heatwave forecast as country logs first 40°C day of the year

Parts of India have begun recording temperatures above 40°C for the first time this year, signalling an early onset of summer-like conditions, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) warned on Tuesday, predicting heatwave in pockets of the Konkans, coastal Karnataka and North Kerala.

- Jayashree Nandi

NEW DELHI:

The Kannur airport station in Kerala recorded the highest temperature of 40.4°C across the country's plains on Monday, marking the first instance of temperatures crossing the 40-degree threshold in 2025.

While not quite a record — in 2023, Gujarat's Bhuj recorded 40.4°C on February 16 — such temperatures are rare for anywhere in the country in the first two months of the year. Rarer still are heatwave conditions in February.