Large swathes of India recorded temperatures well above normal on Tuesday, as a brief spring appeared to make way for a likely gruelling summer, with authorities in some states already issuing heatwave guidelines for residents.

The temperature inched past the 40°C mark in a string of regions in southern India, with parts of Kerala, coastal Karnataka and Telangana bearing the brunt of the heat, showed data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Delhi’s maximum temperature also soared to 34.6°C, the highest so far this year and more than three degrees above normal, with the weather office predicting even hotter days ahead on Wednesday and Thursday, when the mercury is likely to top off at 36°C.

The unusual heat comes on the back of two largely dry months for much of the country, with IMD data showing that rainfall in four southern states was in the “large deficient” zone – Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Telangana. Rainfall was “deficient” in a host of other states, including Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, as well those in the North-East, showed the data.

Indeed, only central and eastern India received normal rain in the two months, according to the weather department.

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In its summer forecast issued earlier this month, IMD predicted that March, April and May are likely to be hotter than usual across most of India, stressing that El Nino conditions would persist for most of this period, in turn resulting in a higher number of heatwave days.

Twenty-two of Telangana’s 33 districts recorded maximum temperatures above 40°C at 5.30pm on Tuesday, as the state administration issued an “orange alert”, warning residents to be cognisant of the heat and take adequate precautions. Talamadugu in Adilabad district was the hottest town in the state, with the temperature a sizzling 42.3°C degrees Celsius, followed closely by Asifabad in Kumaram Bheem district (42°C) and Kondapur in Mancherial district (41.8°C). All of these temperatures are between three and four degrees higher than normal for the month.

And Telangana’s days are only likely to get warmer over the week.

According to the state weather agency’s forecast, the maximum temperatures are expected to rise two to three degrees over the next couple of days.

In Karnataka, parts of which have been dogged by crippling water shortages and power outages, authorities have issued residents alerts, urging them to take precautions against escalating temperatures. The state’s health minister Dinesh Gundu Rao also directed district health officers to ensure that hospitals are equipped to treat patients with heat-related ailments.

“I urge everyone to take precautionary measures to protect yourselves from the heat. With summer coinciding with exam time, it is especially important for students to take extra care of their health,” Rao said in a post on X on Tuesday.

“There is a probability that Karnataka will record above-normal temperatures for a few days in the months of March, April and May… It will not be the case for all the 31 days but only a few days for these three months,” IMD scientist Prasad said.

The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) on Tuesday issued a yellow alert, warning of above-normal maximums in 11 of 14 districts from March 26 to 30.

On Tuesday, Vellanikkara in central Kerala’s Thrissur district recorded the highest temperature across the state — 39.8°C.

According to the Met’s forecast, the temperature is likely to touch 40°C in Thrissur, 39°C in Kollam and Palakkad, 38°C in Pathanamthitta, around 37°C in Kottayam, Ernakulam, Kozhikode and Kannur districts and 36°C in Alappuzha, Malappuram and Kasaragod districts.

In Tamil Nadu, Kanyakumari, Ramanathapuram and Nilgiris districts recorded temperatures about normal. Erode was the hottest region in the state, with a maximum of 38.4°C.

Salem, Dharmapuri, Tirupattur, Vellore, Tiruttani, Karur Paramathi, Madurai (city & airport) & Namakkal recorded maximum temperatures between 37°C and 39°C.

“The temperatures recorded were in the range 37°C to 39°C over many pockets in the plains of north interior districts, 36°C to 38°C in the plains of south interior districts, 33°C to 36°C in the coastal areas and 25°C to 30°C in the hilly areas,” the IMD said in its daily bulletin.

The maximum temperatures in parts of south-western and south-eastern Rajasthan were two to three degrees above normal as well, with this likely to rise further on Wednesday and Thursday.

IMD director general M Mohapatra said the temperatures were in step with the agency’s forecasts.

“In the absence of an active weather system, particularly thunderclouds, it is normal for the maximum to start rising rapidly at this time of the year. In the last week of March and early April, such spikes can be seen and we had forecast this too,” he said.