With temperatures soaring to 47.4°C, Najafgarh in Delhi has emerged as the hottest place in the country, while other states grapple with heatwave conditions.

Delhi on Friday recorded the hottest day of the year so far, with the mercury soaring to 47.4 degrees Celsius in the Najafgarh area. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Najafgarh was the hottest place in the country on Friday. 

The maximum temperature at the Safdarjung weather station, which provides a marker for the city, recorded the mercury soaring over three notches above the normal at 43.6 degrees Celsius.

As many as eight stations in Delhi breached the 45 degrees Celsius mark, leaving the residents sweltering.

The weather department issued an orange alert in the national capital, saying that heatwave conditions were expected in some parts in the next two days.

Heatwave to severe heatwave conditions were also likely in many pockets of Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi and a few pockets of Rajasthan.

Similar weather conditions were likely in isolated pockets of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gangetic West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Saurashtra, and Kutch on May 20. 

According to the weather department, thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty winds were expected in parts of Andhra Pradesh for four days from May 17.

Parts of north coastal Andhra Pradesh, Yanam, South Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema were also expected to receive rainfall, with gusty winds up to speeds of 50 km per hour (kmph).