India, April 18 -- What began as another hot, sunny day took a turn on Friday afternoon, with cloudy skies and light rain sweeping across Delhi. The brief spell, however, did little to ease the heat, as the city recorded its hottest day of the year so far, with a maximum temperature of 41degC. Air quality also worsened, remaining in the "poor" category for the third consecutive day.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had forecast a "partly cloudy sky, very light to light rain accompanied with thunderstorm/lightning and gusty winds (speed 30-40 kmph) towards afternoon/evening" for Friday.

As cloudy skies persisted, a yellow alert was issued, with the IMD stating in the evening that "moderate rain accompanied with thunderstorm/ligh...