Temperatures slipped by few notches in several parts of north India on Saturday bringing some relief from the sweltering heat even as 17 deaths were reported in Uttar Pradesh following a severe dust storm.

Rajasthan, however, continued to reel under heatwave with Bikaner recording a high of 47.4 degrees Celsius, the Met office said.

In Uttar Pradesh, the dust storm and thunderstorm were accompanied by light to moderate rains at isolated places on Friday evening with 11 people being also injured, a government spokesperson said, adding most of the 17 deaths were caused due to falling of trees and house collapse. Moradabad bore the maximum brunt of the storm, with as many as seven deaths being reported from the district, followed by three deaths in Sambhal, the spokesperson said.

Two deaths each were reported from Badaun, Muzaffarnagar and Meerut, while one person was killed in Amroha, he said. Day temperatures were below normal in Faizabad, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Allahabad, Lucknow, Bareilly, Kanpur, Moradabad, and Meerut, according to the MeT department. However, Jhansi recorded a maximum of 45.4 degrees Celsius, it said.

The department predicted that thunderstorm and dust storm accompanied with gusty winds were likely to occur at isolated places in the state on Sunday.

In Rajasthan, dust storm and thunderstorm occurred in isolated places in Jaipur and Udaipur divisions since yesterday. Churu, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Sriganganagar and Kota registered maximum temperatures of 47, 46.8, 45.6, 45.3 and 45 degrees Celsius, respectively, the weather office said. Jaipur, Pilani and Ajmer registered a high of 44, 43.7 and 43.5 degrees Celsius, respectively, it said.

The MeT department has predicted dust storm and thunderstorm accompanied with light rains at isolated places in eastern parts of the state in the next 24 hours.

In the national capital, the mercury slipped a few notches a day after a dust storm hit Delhi-NCR. The minimum temperature was recorded at 26.6 degrees Celsius, one notch below the normal and the maximum temperature was recorded at 38.3 degrees Celsius, two notches below the average, a MeT official said.

The dust storm that hit Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, and Ghaziabad on Friday night had brought the maximum temperature down from 42 degrees Celsius to 35 degrees Celsius.

In Punjab and Haryana, maximum temperatures hovered a few notches below normal in several parts of the two neighbouring states following overnight rains. Chandigarh, joint capital of the two states, recorded a maximum temperature of 36.4 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal. The city recorded 3.4 mm of rainfall, according to a report by the MeT department here.

In Haryana, Ambala recorded a high of 35 degrees Celsius, four degrees below normal. It also recorded 12.7 mm of rainfall. Hisar and Bhiwani recorded a high of 41.8 degrees Celsius and 43 degrees Celsius respectively.