The mercury continued to remain high in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh on Saturday with temperatures two to four degrees above average. But rain and thundershowers are likely from May 9.
The temperature in most places remained abnormally high due to prevailing dry weather, a Met official said.
Haryana's Hisar recorded a high of 40.3 degrees, while Ambala was hot at 38.1 degrees.
In Punjab, Patiala, the Sikh holy city of Amritsar and industrial hub ludhiana were the hottest at 38.2 degrees, 38.4 degrees and 38.6 degrees respectively.
Chandigarh, at a high of 38.6 degrees, was a degree above average.
"There are chances of rain in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh from May 9 to 11, bringing some respite from the heat wave," said the official.
While plains in northern India are sizzling, the hills of Himachal Pradesh continued to experience pleasant weather on Saturday with some of the areas experiencing rainfall. More showers have been forecast.
Shimla, situated at an altitude of 2,130 metres, recorded a maximum temperature of 23.4 degrees Celsius, whereas the minimum temperature was 13 degrees.
"Some of the areas in the state saw more rain, bringing the temperature down considerably," an official said.
Kasauli and Jogindernagar towns saw 21 mm of rainfall each, the maximum in the state. Dharamsala saw mild rainfall.
The Met office said there could be light to moderate rain or thundershowers in popular tourist resorts like Shimla, Narkanda, Kufri, Kasauli, Manali, Palampur, Chamba and Dalhousie from May 9.