The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Thursday announced that a new maximum temperature record had been set in Sindh’s Dadu, with a sizzling 51.5 Celsius on record.

Last week, the PM forecast hot to very hot weather across the country during Eidul Azha, with temperatures expected to remain 5C to 7C above normal levels.

According to PMD data, today’s readings in Dadu surpassed the normal temperature by 4.5C.

The PMD added that Larkana and Jacobabad followed closely behind with readings of 50.5C.

“Maximum temperatures are likely to remain 4-6C above normal and may rise to 47-50C in [the] districts of Sukkur, Shikarpur, Qambar Shahdadkot, Jacobabad, Larkana, Mohenjo Daro, Dadu, Shaheed Benazirabad, Tharparkar, Badin, Sujawal, Thatta, Hyderabad, Matiyari, Tando Muhammad Khan, Umerkot, Ghotki, Khairpur, Nausheroferoze, Mirpur Khas, Jamshoro, Sanghar, Sibbi, Turbat and Panjgur,” the department said in a press release.

It added that mainly hot and dry weather was forecast over most parts of the country today, but noted the likelihood of rain, windstorms and thunderstorms in isolated areas in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and northeast Punjab.

For Friday, the PMD again forecast mainly hot and dry weather across the country, noting it would be very hot in areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and central and southern Balochistan.

“However, rain windstorm/thunderstorm is likely at isolated places in Kashmir, northeastern Punjab and Potohar region during evening/night,” the PMD added.

The United Nations warned today that global average temperatures are likely to continue at or near record levels this year and for the next four years afterwards.

There is a 75 per cent chance that the 2026-2030 five-year mean temperature will surpass the key threshold of 1.5C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) had said.

Meanwhile, the PMD warned at the start of May that El Niño conditions are likely to develop during the 2026 monsoon season in South Asia, alongside higher-than-normal minimum and maximum temperatures across most of the region.

El Niño is a naturally occurring climate phenomenon that warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. It brings changes in winds, pressure and rainfall patterns. Conditions oscillate between El Niño and its opposite, La Niña, with neutral conditions in between.

According to the PMD, below normal rainfall is most likely during the 2026 southwest monsoon season over most parts of South Asia, particularly across the central parts of the region.

“However, some areas over the northwestern, northeastern and parts of the southern region are likely to experience normal to above normal rainfall,” the PMD had said.