India, Jan. 31 -- It was a fairly warm end to January on Friday as the maximum temperature touched 27degC, five degrees above normal, making it the hottest January day in Delhi since January 21, 2019, when it was 28.7degC. A sunny and hot end to the month has clocked the monthly average maximum temperature at 21.1degC - a degree above the long period average (LPA) of 20.1degC, also making it the warmest January since 2019, when the average maximum was 21.2degC.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) data showed nights were also a degree warmer, with the average monthly minimum clocked at 8.5degC, a degree above the LPA of 7.5degC. This was Delhi's highest average minimum since 2017, when it was 8.7degC, data showed.

Experts said that whi...