Telangana braces for intense heatwave as temperatures near 47°C

Hyderabad: India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a heatwave alert for the next four days, warning of a further rise in temperatures across Telangana. According to the forecast, 14 districts will be under a red alert on Thursday, while the remaining districts will be under an orange alert. Temperatures are expected to rise gradually by one to two degrees Celsius, with some areas likely to record highs of up to 47 degrees Celsius.Hyderabad is also expected to witness soaring temperatures, with the mercury likely to cross the 43-degrees Celsius mark.The severity of the prevailing heat conditions was evident on Wednesday, with as many as 84 locations across Telangana reported heatwave conditions. Two places — one each in Jangaon and Kumuram Bheem Asifabad districts — recorded severe heatwave conditions.According to data from the Hyderabad Meteorological Centre, the highest maximum temperature in the state was recorded at Dilawarpur in Nirmal district at 46.5 degrees Celsius. Several other districts also witnessed extreme temperatures above 46 degrees Celsius. Hanamkonda and Karimnagar recorded 46.4 degrees Celsius each, while Peddapalli, Jagtial, Jangaon, Khammam, Kumuram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial and Nizamabad registered temperatures between 46.2 degrees Celsius and 46.3 degrees Celsius.The IMD stated that light to moderate rainfall is likely at isolated places in some districts today and tomorrow, accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds. However, dry weather conditions are expected to prevail from the following day onwards.