India faces dangerous humid heat as heat index tops 51°C

Delhi’s weather department recorded a heat‑index (feels‑like) temperature of 51.3 °C on Saturday, while the actual thermometer showed 41.3 °C. The extreme reading was driven by unusually humid air from the Arabian Sea, raising the wet‑bulb temperature to 29.8 °C – a level that can quickly overwhelm the human body’s cooling mechanisms. A yellow alert was issued for Tuesday and Wednesday, with forecasts of rain, strong winds and cooler night temperatures around 22 °C later in the week.

A Climate Central analysis shows that globally the number of days with dangerous humid heat has more than doubled since the 1970s, rising from about 10 to 23 per year, and about 64 % of that increase is linked to human‑driven climate change. In India, coastal cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai regularly experience oppressive humidity that pushes wet‑bulb temperatures above the 25 °C danger threshold, heightening risks of dehydration, heat‑exhaustion and heat‑stroke, especially for vulnerable populations.