Delhi temperature may break record for highest ever in India: 126.1 degrees

A temperature reading collected in Delhi, India's capital territory, may have broken national records as the country grapples with a blistering heat wave. The reading — 52.9 degrees Celsius or 126.1 degrees Fahrenheit — was preliminary and technically an outlier compared with others taken in Delhi on the same day, officials said. But, if confirmed, it would be the highest temperature ever registered anywhere in India.

The temperature reading came from a substation in Mungeshpur, a neighborhood in Delhi. Located in the northwest, India's capital territory — which includes its capital city, New Delhi — is home to almost 30 million people and covers about 600 square miles of land. The Indian Meteorological Department said in a news release that the reading out of Mungeshpur could be due to a sensor issue or some other error, and that it would examine the data and the sensor. In Delhi, substations in various locations generally registered temperatures between 45.2 degrees and 49.1 degrees Celsius, which corresponds roughly to 113 degrees and 120 degrees Fahrenheit.   

Amid the heat wave, people in Delhi as well as the northern states Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh were advised to avoid heat exposure under a "red" weather alert issued on Tuesday and Wednesday by the Indian Meteorological Department. The red alert, designating "heat wave to severe heat wave" conditions, urged people to keep cool if possible and stay hydrated, as at least three deaths have been reported so far in connection with the weather, according to the BBC, a CBS News partner.