NEW DELHI>> New Delhi recorded its highest temperature ever measured Wednesday — 126 degrees Fahrenheit — leaving residents of the Indian capital sweltering in a heat wave that has kept temperatures in several Indian states well above 110 degrees for weeks.

In New Delhi, where walking out of the house felt like walking into an oven, officials feared that the electricity grid was being overwhelmed and that the city’s water supply might need rationing.

The past 12 months have been the planet’s hottest ever recorded, and cities such as Miami are experiencing extreme heat even before summer. Scientists said this week that the average person on Earth had experienced 26 more days of abnormally high temperatures in the past year.

Extreme heat can cause serious health issues and can be fatal.

Although late-afternoon dust storms and light drizzle in New Delhi brought hope of some reprieve Wednesday, the weather station at Mungeshpur, northwest of the capital, reported a recording of 126 degrees at 2:30 p.m. Kuldeep Srivastava, a scientist at the regional meteorological center in Delhi, said it was the highest temperature ever recorded by the automatic weather monitoring system, which was installed in 2010.

In a statement Wednesday evening, India’s meteorological department said the Mungeshpur station was “an outlier compared to other stations.” It said it was assessing whether that station’s recording of a higher temperature than other stations around Delhi was the result of an error or a local mitigating factor.

The previous record for the highest temperature, about 118.5 Fahrenheit, repeatedly was crossed in recent days. Three of New Delhi’s weather stations reported temperatures of 121.8 degrees Fahrenheit or higher on Tuesday, setting a new record even before the record reading on Wednesday afternoon.

For weeks now, temperatures in several states in India’s north have reached well over 110 degrees, and hospitals have been reporting an uptick in cases of heatstroke. In the Himalayan states, hundreds of forest fires have been reported.

Deadly fires in crowded buildings are regular occurrences in India, with many of them caused by short circuits. The rising temperatures have increased concerns about the risks.

Atul Garg, Delhi’s fire chief, said daily fire-related calls have crossed 200, the highest in the past decade.

“Normally during this period in the last eight to 10 years we would receive 160 calls per day,” Garg said. “We are stretched in terms of manpower.”

The heat wave has coincided with campaigning for India’s general election, with the last phase of voting set to take place June 1. Candidates, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and opposition leaders, have continued holding large public rallies, despite the temperatures.

Nitin Gadkari, a Cabinet minister who is running for reelection, fainted from the heat while addressing a rally, and on Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi, the opposition leader, took a break during a speech to pour water from a bottle onto his head.

“It’s quite hot, no?” he said.