For the state capital, the India Meteorological Department has issued an orange alert for heatwave conditions, which are expected to prevail till Thursday.
The continuous red alerts in several districts for weeks are likely to end this week. Chances of rainfall by the end of this week have been traced in North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, East Midnapore, Birbhum, Murshidabad and Nadia districts.
The IMD has issued red alerts (meaning ‘take action’) for eight districts of south Bengal. They are East Midnapore, West Midnapore, Jhargram, Bankura, West Burdwan, East Burdwan, Birbhum and Murshidabad. The red alerts for heatwaves are likely to continue till Thursday.
Apart from Kolkata, the orange alert also applies to North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, Purulia and Nadia districts on Monday.
The IMD said that light rain with thunder would likely occur in some places in southern districts such as North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, East Midnapore, Birbhum, Murshidabad and Nadia during the last days of this week.
The IMD also sees no larger change in day temperature during the next five days in the state. The minimum relative humidity is likely to be in the range of 20-40 per cent in the afternoons.
44.3 degrees Celsius at Kalaikunda
Meanwhile, the highest maximum temperature recorded in the state on Monday was 44.3 degrees Celsius, Kalaikunda, followed by 44.2 degrees Celsius at Panagarh and 43.5 degrees Celsius at Bankura. In Sriniketan, Canning, Krishnanagar, Jhargram, Purulia and Asansol, the maximum temperature hovered around 42 degrees Celsius. Burdwan, Diamond Harbour, Behrampur and Kalyani recorded 41.5 degrees Celsius.
Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong and Alipurduar are experiencing light to moderate rain, which is likely to continue till this week’s end.
From Wednesday, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur and Malda are expected to experience light rain with thunder. An orange alert has been issued as heatwave conditions are likely to occur in one or two places of these three districts on Monday. The conditions are expected to continue till Wednesday.
The highest temperature recorded in north Bengal was 42.4 degrees Celsius at Raiganj.