LUCKNOW, May 21 -- Uttar Pradesh continued to reel under an intense heatwave on Wednesday, with Banda district recording the highest temperature in the country at 48 degrees Celsius, 4.5 notches above normal, for the fourth consecutive day. A severe heatwave red alert was issued across the state for the next three days, followed by an orange alert for the subsequent period, accompanied by a warning for 'warm nights', said Manish R Ranalkar, director, Lucknow Met office. Lucknow logged a maximum temperature of 43.2 degrees Celsius, equalling its warmest day of the season recorded on May 18. The minimum was 28.8 degrees, which was 3.5 degrees above normal. Out of 27 cities in the country where day temperatures remained above 45 degrees, five UP cities made the cut in the list, which included Banda 48deg, Hamirpur 46.2deg, Jhansi 45.9deg, Agra 45.3deg and Orai 45.2deg. The list, however, did not mention two other cities - Prayagraj 46.4deg and Bulandshahr 45deg. The meterological office said enhanced radiational heating, subsidence of hot winds associated with an anticyclone over central India in the middle tropospheric levels, hot and dry westerly winds over the southern parts of the state and moist easterly winds over northern regions are likely to intensify the heat conditions. The meterological department predicted likelihood of a heatwave to a severe heatwave (Loo) occurring in 20+ districts and placed them in red alert zone for the next two days. These included Banda, Chitrakoot, Kaushambi, Prayagraj, Mirzapur, Kanpur City, Aligarh, Mathura, Hathras, Etah, Agra, Mainpuri, Etawah, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Jhansi, Lalitpur and surrounding areas. It predicted likelihood of a heatwave to a severe heatwave (Loo) and flagged an orange alert for 13 districts, including Pratapgarh, Sonbhadra, Varanasi, Jaunpur, Kannauj, Unnao, Rae Bareli, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Kasganj and surrounding areas. The meterological office said dry weather conditions are very likely to prevail across the state, accompanied by strong surface winds with speeds of 20 to 30 kmph gusting up to 40 kmph. For Lucknow and adjoining areas, the Met centre forecast clear skies and strong dust-raising winds during daytime, along with warm night conditions on May 21. Prayagraj has been reeling under an intense heatwave over the past week, with temperatures consistently remaining above 44degC since Saturday. The maximum temperature recorded on Saturday was 44degC, rising to 44.5degC on Sunday, peaking at 46.8degC on Monday, followed by 45.8degC on Tuesday and 46.4degC on Wednesday. Primary schools from classes 1 to 8 were closed from May 19, as per the academic calendar, while secondary schools also shut for summer vacation on Wednesday, May 20. The temperature has been hovering close to the 45 degrees mark in Varanasi for the last three days. Wednesday saw a maximum of 43.4deg C. All schools up to Class 12 have been shut from May 19 to 25 in the district, on the instructions of district magistrate Satyendra Kumar....