Heatwave 2026

Heatwave 2026: With 19 of world's 20 hottest cities, why India is burning like nowhere else on Earth.

India has become the undisputed heat capital of the world, with 19 of the 20 hottest locations on the planet currently situated within its borders, according to News18, citing data released by AQI.in on April 21. The findings lay bare the extraordinary scale of the heat crisis gripping the subcontinent this month, with cities in Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh leading the grim global rankings.

Leading the list are Bhagalpur in Bihar, Talcher in Odisha and Asansol in West Bengal, each recording a peak of 44 degrees Celsius — the highest anywhere on Earth at the time the data was compiled, according to an India Today report. Close behind are several other Bihar cities — Begusarai, Motihari, Munger, Bhojpur and Siwan — along with locations in West Bengal and eastern Uttar Pradesh, all clocking temperatures in the vicinity of 43 degrees Celsius, the report added.

The only entry outside India in the top 20 is Lumbini in Nepal, the report noted, underscoring the country's overwhelming dominance in current global heat rankings.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned that heatwave conditions are likely to persist from April 22 to 24, with maximum temperatures expected to climb further and potentially touch 43 degrees Celsius across several areas. The IMD formally declares a heatwave when the mercury crosses 40 degrees Celsius.

The simultaneous surge in temperatures across northern, central and eastern India points to a broader atmospheric phenomenon rather than isolated regional events, as per a News18 report. Meteorologists attribute the extreme heat to a combination of interacting factors bearing down on the subcontinent concurrently.

Chief among them is intense solar heating, with strong pre-monsoon radiation rapidly warming land surfaces across large stretches of the country, the report said. This is being compounded by cloudless skies over northern and central India, allowing uninterrupted sunlight to push ground temperatures even higher. A deficit in winter snowfall across Eurasia and the Himalayas has worsened matters further — reduced snow cover lowers the Earth's capacity to reflect sunlight, accelerating both the onset and severity of heatwave conditions, according to the report.

Shifting ocean patterns are also playing a role, as per the report. Rising sea surface temperatures in the Pacific and a move towards ENSO-neutral conditions are altering atmospheric circulation, weakening the cooling weather systems that would ordinarily temper the heat. Hot, dry north-westerly winds sweeping across the plains are additionally suppressing cloud formation and limiting rainfall, intensifying conditions further still, the report added.

The weather picture is not uniform across the country, however. While northern and central regions battle extreme heat, parts of southern and north-eastern India are seeing moisture inflows and thunderstorm activity — a sharp contrast that highlights a marked regional divide in prevailing conditions, as per the report.

Experts caution that the clustering of so many record temperatures within a single country is a clear indicator of rising climate variability, the report said. The trend signals an increase in both the intensity and frequency of heatwaves going forward.

With April still under way, little respite appears to be in sight. Prolonged heat stress is expected to continue across large swathes of the country, the report noted, with meaningful relief unlikely until pre-monsoon activity gathers pace in the weeks ahead.