While air quality saw further improvement in entire National Capital Region, mercury soared by at least three degrees in the national capital in past 24 hours with Tuesday recording 39.8 degree Celsius, a notch above the season's average, and is likely to rise further.

The heat is set to rise in Delhi, with Met predicting maximum temperature likely to hover around 40 to 41 degrees on Wednesday. Tuesday's minimum temperature was recorded at 26.5 degree Celsius, a notch below the season's average. At 41.3 degrees, Palam remained the warmest region in Delhi, while Ridge sizzled at 41 and Ayanagar at 40.7 degree Celsius. Gurugram was at 40 degrees.