It's not just hot in Lucknow.
It's Fry-day.
The city just clocked 42.4°C — a brutal 6.3 degrees above normal.
And that was enough to crown it the 5th hottest city in all of India on Friday.
But here's the part that stings more.
Even after sundown, there was no escape.
Nighttime lows refused to dip below 30.4°C — four notches above normal.
The city basically didn't cool down. It just… simmered.
Of India's 11 hottest cities on Friday — 9 were from UP.
Let that sink in.
Here's the leaderboard nobody wants to be on:
Bahraich pushed into severe heatwave territory at 41.8°C.
Varanasi, Ballia, Bareilly, Ghazipur — all baking past 41.
The monsoon is running late.
It hit Kerala on time. Then… it stalled.
India received just 19.2 mm of rain between June 4–15 — a worrying pause that left north India exposed to the sun with no cloud cover, no breeze, no mercy.
And UP became the country's open-air furnace.
The weekend? Still cooking.
But here's the light at the end of the tunnel.
The Met department says the Southwest Monsoon will enter UP within 3–4 days.
Rain is expected to begin June 29.
Widespread showers by June 30.
And then — finally — the great cool-down.
Until then, UP has one job.
Survive the simmer.
That's all for now!
