Mercury rising in Bengaluru, Friday was ‘hottest January day ever’

“This is the highest-ever temperature recorded in the month of January. The previous record was 32.8 degrees Celsius recorded on January 24, 2000,” IMD Bengaluru director Geeta Agnihotri said.

Going by IMD data, HAL Airpot (popularly known as Old Airport) recorded 32.5 degrees Celsius, while at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), situated on the outskirts of the Karnataka capital, mercury levels indicated 33.6 degrees Celsius.

The rise in temperature this year is in accordance with IMD’s forecast in November 2019, which predicted a “harsher” summer in 2020 throughout the country. (Express Photo: Ralph Alex Arakal)

Agnihotri said that the rise in temperature was in accordance with the meteorological department’s forecast in November 2019, which predicted a “harsher” summer in 2020 throughout the country.

IMD officials added, “Even though it is normal to witness a rise in temperature after Makar Sankranti, this time, the temperature has shot up drastically. There has practically been no winter this time.”

Meteorological experts said urbanisation and vehicular pollution could be the possible reasons for the dramatic change in temperature.

Recently, Bengaluru, known as the IT hub of India, was picked as the ‘Most Traffic Congested City’ in the world in a report released by location technology company TomTom, which ranks urban congestion worldwide.

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