It was 123.8 degrees in India yesterday

India sweltered under its hottest day ever on Thursday when temperatures in the city of Phalodi reached 123.8 degrees. The previous high of 123 degrees in 1956 was recorded in the same western state of Rajasthan.

India is currently bearing the brunt of a merciless heat wave, where areas in the region are experiencing temperatures as high as 116.6 daily. April, May, and June tend to be the nation's hottest months before monsoons cool the country later in the summer.

Hundreds have already died of heat-related ailments while crops have been destroyed in more than 13 states. There are reports of farmers committing suicide around the country, or abandoning farmlands to move to urban slums.

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The hottest temperature ever recorded on earth was 134 degrees in Death Valley, California, in 1913.