• 10.30am: 44°
• 2pm: 51°
• 5.30pm: 41°

These were not actual temperature readings but the RealFeel figures recorded at different points in the city on Monday, as soaring humidity combined with heat to make conditions oppressive through the day.

Many residents said Monday was the most uncomfortable day of the summer so far.

The Met office recorded a maximum temperature of around 36° Celsius in Alipore, which is considered normal for mid-May based on a 30-year average of weather data.

What made the conditions especially unbearable was the humidity.

The minimum relative humidity — a measure of moisture in the air during the driest part of the day — was around 62%. This meant humidity levels stayed above 60% through most of the afternoon, when the sun was directly overhead.

“The high humidity, coupled with the heat, explains the abnormally high RealFeel,” a Met official in Alipore said.

The RealFeel was high enough to compete with Churu in Rajasthan, the gateway to the Thar desert and one of the hottest places in the country.

Churu recorded a maximum temperature of around 45° Celsius on Monday. But the humidity there was much lower, at around 38%, meaning the actual temperature and the “feels like” temperature were almost the same.

Schools in Calcutta are already shut for the summer recess, sparing children the worst of the conditions. But office-goers and those working outdoors struggled through the day.

“I had parked my car in the open for barely 20 minutes before going into a meeting. When I returned, the seat and even the steering wheel felt like they were on fire,” said Tapabrata Guha, who had driven from Kudghat to Ballygunge in the afternoon.

Traffic sergeants and constables were seen drinking water through the day. Stalls selling fruit juices in central Calcutta reported brisk business.

The Met office said a thunderstorm was expected in the city soon. But any relief would be temporary.

“The heat and humidity are here to stay. Most of 2026 has seen lower-than-normal temperatures. Now the Celsius is where it should be for this time of the year, but it feels more taxing because of how the year has unfolded so far,” the Met official said.

North Bengal is likely to continue receiving heavy rain.

A Met bulletin said an upper air cyclonic circulation over northeast Bihar had shifted over sub-Himalayan Bengal and adjoining areas, creating favourable conditions for the advance of the southwest monsoon into more parts of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea over the next few days.