Friday, Jul 24, 2026 The claims desk. Receipts included. POWERED BY LENZ ↗
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GENERAL

The Claim

The Civil Defence Department of India issued an official advisory warning that temperatures in India will reach between 45°C and 55°C during the period from April 29 to May 12, 2026.

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The Short Version

This viral message is a fabrication — no such advisory was ever issued by India's Civil Defence Department. Two independent fact-checking organizations (BOOM and FACTLY) investigated this identical claim and confirmed it is false, with an IMD official explicitly denying it. The message appears to be a recurring hoax, first debunked in 2025 and now repackaged with 2026 dates. Actual IMD forecasts describe temperature anomalies in degrees above normal and never project temperatures reaching 55°C.

Caveats

  • This is a recurring viral hoax — the same message with identical temperature ranges and date windows was debunked in May 2025 by BOOM Fact Check and FACTLY, and has resurfaced with updated dates.
  • India's Civil Defence Department is not the standard issuing body for meteorological forecasts; that role belongs to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), making the attribution itself a red flag for misinformation.
  • The claimed upper bound of 55°C exceeds India's all-time recorded maximum temperature of approximately 51°C (Phalodi, 2016), making the forecast scientifically implausible.

The Receipts

  1. Extended Range Heat Wave Outlook forthe next 2 weeks - IMD

    India Meteorological Department

  2. Press Release: Dated: 09th April 2026 - India Meteorological Department

    India Meteorological Department

  3. parliament question: rise in temperature - PIB

    PIB

  4. Press Release Date: April 09, 2026 Time of Issue

    प्रेस विज्ञप्ति तारीखः 09 अप्रैल, 2026 जारी करनेका समय

  5. Viral Message Claiming IMD Issued Intense Heat Wave Alert Is False - BOOM Fact Check

    BOOM Fact Check

  6. The viral post claiming that IMD issued a severe heatwave warning from 29 April to 12 May 2025 is fake - FACTLY

    FACTLY

  7. IMD Warns of Longer Heatwaves, Warm Nights Across India in April–June

    Outlook Planet

  8. IMD sounds alarm over brutal summer 2026, predicts surge in heatwave days across India

    Nextgen Gpost

  9. India Heatwave Alert 2026 — IMD Warning, Worst Affected States, and What It Means for You | Nextgen Gpost

    Nextgen Gpost

  10. Warm Nights, Intense Heat Waves Likely Across India Over Next Two Months: IMD - The Quint

    The Quint

+ 8 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

Civil Defence Department of IndiaIndia

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