With 61 more people dying on Friday, the toll due to the heat wave gripping Andhra Pradesh for the last 15 days has reached 637.

Till now, 119 people have died in Nalgonda district in Telangana and 108 in East Godavari district.

Other districts that have reported high number of deaths include Prakasam (98), West Godavari (73), Guntur (46), Krishna (44), Karimnagar (41) and Nellore (30).

Vijayawada recorded the season's highest temperature (48.7 degrees Celsius), followed by Machilipatnam (47.8), Ongole and Bapatla (47.4 each), Kavali (47.2), Nellore (46.5) and Ramgundam (46.2).

According to reports from the affected districts, people kept indoors in most of the places during the afternoon. The civic authorities have issued a warning, asking the people to take precautions.

The Hyderabad Meteorological Centre has given a heat wave warning for the next 48 hours, during which mainly dry weather is likely to prevail all over the state.

Severe heat wave conditions will continue in south coastal districts of Krishna, Guntur, Nellore and Prakasam.

Heat wave continued to sweep several south Bengal districts, claiming four lives, as the weatherman said the onset of monsoon in the gangetic West Bengal might be delayed by a few days.

Western Orissa was like a cauldron for most of the day, with Titilagarh in Balangir district registering a blistering 48.6 degrees Celsius.

The situation, however, was much better in the coastal region as the sea breeze had become stronger, meteorological office sources said.

The heat wave was continuing because of the strong north-westerly winds sweeping down the central Indian plain, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, a senior meteorologist, said.

In Chennai, mercury touched 45 degrees Celsius after a gap of 93 years.

The heat was on account of dry winds from the northwest and late setting in of the sea breeze, a meteorologist said.

With inputs from PTI

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