According to the summer forecast issued by the India Meteorological Department, the seasonal temperature would be above normal by more than one degree Celsius over Northwest India.

There is also a high probability of 76 % of maximum temperatures in the core Heat Wave zone during the 2016, hot weather season to be above normal.

“This in turn suggests high probability of moderate and severe heat wave conditions in core HW zone during the hot weather season,” the IMD said.

The core HW zone covers states of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana and met sub-divisions of Marathwada, Vidharbha, Madhya Maharashtra and coastal Andhra Pradesh.

“It has been observed that during the hot weather seasons followed by El Nino years (for example: 1973, 1995, 1998, 2003, 2010, etc. followed by the El Nino years of 1972, 1994, 1997, 2002 and 2009), above normal temperatures including moderate to severe heat wave conditions were experienced in most parts of India,” the IMD said.

The weathermen have also attributed the increasing trend of greenhouse gases due to “anthropogenic activity”.