LUCKNOW, April 22 -- The Lucknow Meteorological Centre on Tuesday issued an alert regarding increase in temperatures across Uttar Pradesh and the possibility of a heatwave over the next five days. As per the forecast, weather in the state will remain dry and the maximum temperature will gradually increase by 2 to 4 degrees Celsius over the next five days and thereafter fall by about two degrees. The minimum temperature is not likely to change much during the next 48 hours and will gradually rise by 2 to 3 degrees during subsequent three days and fall by about two degrees after that, said the weatherman. "On Wednesday, there is a possibility of heatwave conditions in isolated pockets across 32 districts including Prayagraj, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Barabanki, Rae Bareli, Amethi, Sultanpur, Ayodhya and Ambedkar Nagar," a Met official said. Heatwave is considered if the maximum temperature of a station reaches at least 40degC or more for plains. It is also based on 4.5degC to 6.4degC departure from normal temperature; and severe heatwave when the departure from normal is more than 6.4degC. Heatwave is also declared when the actual maximum temperature exceeds 45degC and severe heatwave when actual the maximum temperature exceeds 47degC, and in these conditions, the departure will not account for. Banda remained hottest in the country at 44.2 degrees on Tuesday, followed by Sultanpur 43.4 degrees, Prayagraj 43.2 degrees, Jhansi and Hardoi 42.5, Varanasi BHU 42.4, Ayodhya, Ghazipur and Azamgarh 42 and Kanpur IAF 41.8 degrees. In Lucknow, day and night temperatures were 40.2 and 23.6 degrees Celsius. The forecast for Wednesday is clear sky and the maximum & minimum temperatures will be around 42 and 24 degrees, respectively. APRIL 23: The heat index in Bhadohi and Mirzapur districts is likely to range between 40degC and 50degC. APRIL 24: The heat index in districts of Kushinagar, Deoria and Mirzapur is likely to range between 40degC and 50degC. APRIL 25: The heat index is likely to range between 40degC and 50degC in districts of Deoria, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Maharajganj, Siddharth Nagar, Balrampur, and Mirzapur....