Hot weather conditions will persist over Madhya Pradesh and west Rajasthan for the next two days.

Highlights North, Central and South India reeling under intense heat

Temperature in Rajasthan's Churu reached 50 degrees on Saturday

IMD had issued red-coded (extremely severe) weather warning for Delhi

Heatwave conditions are likely to continue over north, central and south India for two more days but would abate gradually due to favourable climactic conditions, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted on Sunday. "Due to easterly winds at lower levels over northern parts of the country, the severity of the heatwave is likely to start decreasing over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh from today," it said.

Large parts of the country witnessed severe heatwave over the past week, with temperatures even touching 50 degrees Celsius in Rajasthan. Hot weather conditions are likely to persist over Madhya Pradesh and western Rajasthan on Monday, the IMD said, issuing a code red warning for the two states. It has also issued an amber-coded warning for east Rajasthan and Vidarbha in Maharashtra and a yellow-coded warning for Marathwada, Surat and Kutch, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi.

The IMD has four colour codes to indicate the severity weather systems -- red for extremely severe weather conditions, followed by amber, yellow and green. The green colour code denotes normal conditions.

If the maximum temperature of a weather station in the plains crosses 45 degrees Celsius for two consecutive days, it is termed as a heatwave. And if the temperature breaches 47 degrees Celsius for the same period, it is termed as severe heatwave.

Alternatively, a heatwave is declared if the temperature rises between 4.5 and 6.4 degrees Celsius above normal. Anything beyond that would constitute a severe heatwave.

People across various northern states were advised against stepping out into the open between noon and late evening. Farmers in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur complained of water shortage due to heatwave conditions, which was affecting cultivation plans.

(With inputs from Agencies)