India, March 8 -- The temperature in Delhi soared past 35degC on Saturday, the earliest it has crossed this threshold in at least 15 years, data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) showed, as Delhi checked off another grim touchpoint in an unusually hot March.

At 35.7degC, Saturday's maximum was 7.3degC higher than normal and the soonest the daytime heat has passed the 35degC mark since at least 2011. IMD did not release monthly temperature data before 2011. The minimum temperature was 17.4degC, 3.4degC above normal.

Before this year, the earliest the maximum temperature had crossed the threshold was in 2021, when it reached 35.2degC on March 11. In 2025, the temperature crossed the threshold on March 14 (36.2degC), and the y...