The mercury crept past 49C this week as residents in Delhi suffered through their 5th heatwave since March. The extreme pre-monsoon conditions are hitting the whole region, prompting warnings that sick and elderly people and babies need special care, which isn’t always easy.  “Poor people have fewer resources to cool down as well as fewer options to stay inside, away from the heat,” the United Nations’ Dr Chadi Singh said. While heatwaves are common in India in May and June, the sweaty season started in March. Meteorologists say big storms originating in the Mediterranean meant little pre-monsoon rainfall in India’s north – but global warming is a big factor, experts say. The effects are widespread: spikes in demand for power is leading to outages in many states, and farmers say their wheat harvest is stuffed.