Red alert issued as heatwave sweeps Uttar Pradesh

Key points

• The Meteorological Centre here has issued a red alert for 10 districts in the State for Friday (May 22, 2026), warning of "severe" to "very severe" heatwave conditions.
• The alert has been issued for Banda, Chitrakoot, Kaushambi, Prayagraj, Fatehpur, Pratapgarh, Mirzapur, Varanasi, Bhadohi and Jaunpur districts, where severe heatwave conditions are likely during the day.
• An orange alert has been sounded for 34 districts, including Baghpat, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Mathura, and Agra.
• The weather office has also issued a yellow alert for 17 districts, including Deoria, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur, Hardoi, Farrukhabad, Lucknow, Barabanki, and Ayodhya.
• The MeT said maximum temperatures are likely to rise gradually by 2-3 degrees Celsius in eastern Uttar Pradesh over the next 48 hours, while no major change is expected elsewhere during the week.