Lucknow, Apr 24 (IANS): With temperatures soaring past 40 degrees Celsius in several cities in Uttar Pradesh, the impact is visible on electioneering.

Most of the candidates are avoiding large meetings and focussing on door-to-door campaigns.

While some areas experienced a mild reprieve with late evening showers on Tuesday, others like the Bundelkhand region continue to battle the heat wave.

“I am focussing on visiting homes of voters because a number of my party workers have already fallen ill due to extreme heatwave conditions,” said a candidate in Banda district.

On Tuesday, Bulandshahr was the hottest in the state with a maximum temperature of 42 degrees Celsius followed by Prayagraj at 41.6 degrees Celsius, Basti at 41 degrees Celsius, Varanasi at 40.9 degrees Celsius, Sultanpur and Agra at 40.8 degrees Celsius each and Jhansi 40.6 degrees Celsius.

In Gorakhpur, intense heat in the morning hours impacted schoolchildren. By 11:00 a.m., the mercury had soared to a staggering 41.5 degrees Celsius, reaching nearly 42 degrees Celsius by noon.

In Lucknow, the maximum temperature on Tuesday was 39.6 degrees Celsius, 0.5 units above normal, while the minimum temperature was 23.1 degrees Celsius, 0.9 notches above normal.

The state Meteorological (MeT) Department issued a heatwave warning for east UP on Wednesday and most parts of the state on Thursday and Friday. Dry hot winds will also lash many parts of the state during this period.

Mohammad Danish, senior scientist at the state MeT Department said, “Cyclonic circulations that were responsible for thunder showers at isolated places in the east UP and partly cloudy sky in many parts of the state in the past couple of days, have now fizzled out. Hence, the sky will remain clear in the coming days, resulting in a gradual rise in temperatures. Further, dry hot winds coming from desert regions of Rajasthan are lashing the state. All these factors are expected to create a heatwave.”