A nor'wester and thundersquall in some places of Odisha brought respite from the blistering heat in the state while some parts of the country received light rains.

It was a hot day in the national capital with the mercury crossing the 40-degree mark in several parts of the city.

The Safdarjung observatory, the recording of which is considered official for the city, registered a maximum temperature of 39.9 degrees Celsius.

Areas under Palam, Lodhi Road, Ridge and Ayanagar registered maximum temperatures of 41.4 degrees Celsius, 39.8 degrees Celsius, 40.6 degrees Celsius and 40.5 degrees Celsius respectively.

Odisha got further respite from the searing heatwave with drop in temperatures in many areas coupled with a nor'wester and thundersquall in some areas for the second day.

The maximum temperature in Balangir, which remained the hottest place in the state, fell to 42 degrees Celsius from 42.5 degrees Celsius recorded yesterday.

The mercury breached the 40-degree mark in seven places.

Titlagarh recorded a maximum temperature of 42 degrees Celsius, while the mercury stood at 41.7 degrees Celsius in Angul, 41.5 degrees Celsius in Bhawanipatna and 41.4 degrees Celsius in Jharsuguda.

Sunstroke has claimed at least three lives in the state this summer so far with casualties reported from Bargarh, Angul and Balangir districts.

In Rajasthan, Churu recorded the highest maximum temperature of 44 degrees Celsius in the state followed by Jaisalmer which registered a high of 43.5 degrees Celsius.

Barmer recorded a high of 43.2 degrees Celsius followed by 43 degrees Celsius in Sriganganagar, 42.5 degrees Celsius in Bikaner, 41.5 degrees Celsius in Kota, 41.3 degrees Celsius in Jodhpur and 41.1 degrees Celsius in Pilani.

Thunderstorm with very light rainfall occurred at isolated places in the Vidarbha region and Chhattisgarh while dry weather prevailed in Madhya Pradesh.

Chandrapur in the Vidarbha region recorded highest maximum temperature of 43.2 degrees Celsius.

The mercury hovered slightly above the normal limits in Punjab and Haryana with Hisar and Narnaul recording maximum temperatures of 41.5 degrees Celsius each.

Chandigarh recorded a high of 38 degrees Celsius while in Punjab, Patiala registered a maximum temperature of 39.6 degrees Celsius followed by Ludhiana 39.5 degrees Celsius and Amritsar 38.6 degrees Celsius.

In Haryana, Karnal registered a high of 39.4 degrees Celsius.

The southeast, northcentre and northeast parts of Bihar received light rains while other areas of the state remained mainly dry.

Sabour in Bhagalpur district was the hottest place in the state registering a high of 40 degrees Celsius.

Gaya recorded a maximum temperature of 38.9 degrees Celsius, followed by Patna at 38 degrees Celsius and Purnea at 34.5 degrees Celsius.

Rainfall occurred in parts of Kerala, Karnataka, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.