2009 hottest year since 1900: Met

According to Indian Meteorological Department director general Ajit Tyagi, the annual mean temperature for 2009 was 25.55ºC for the country as a whole. This was 0.91ºC more than the 1961-1990 average (24.64ºC).

The year 2009 was the warmest since 1900.

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According to Indian Meteorological Department director general Ajit Tyagi, the annual mean temperature for 2009 was 25.55ºC for the country as a whole. This was 0.91ºC more than the 1961-1990 average (24.64ºC).

Tyagi said there was a definite trend of annual average temperatures rising in the recent past. Six of the hottest years since 1900 came between 2001 and 2009.

In 2009, most parts of India saw abnormally warm winters. However, coldwave conditions prevailed in Uttar Pradesh, taking close to 80 lives.

Summer 2009 too was unusually hot. There were approximately 150 deaths due to the heatwave in May last year.