Kerala continues to experience scorching heat with Palakkad district recording the highest maximum temperature of 38.4 degrees Celsius on Thursday. Due to the rising mercury levels during the past few days, electricity consumption in Kerala has also gone up with 102.99 million units (mu) being consumed on April 19 which is an all-time record for the state, according to the data on the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) website.

Electricity consumption has crossed the 100 million mark several times this month. The maximum relative humidity in many parts of the state was more than 75 per cent, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) data. Such high temperatures, humidity levels and the resultant discomfort was last faced by the southern state in 2016 and 2019, an official of Kerala State Disaster Management Authors (SMA) said.