Shimla : Thinking of a break from the sultry summer in the plains to the salubrious climes of Shimla? Think again. The 'Queen of Hills', the summer capital of the British raj, is in the middle of a freakish summer, with May 27th temperature of 32.4 degrees touching a 170-year high. With this, heat in Shimla broke the previous highest of 31.7 degrees recorded on May 20, 2004.

A tourist from Chandigarh, Harpreet Singh, cut short his stay; he's moving further up towards Sangla valley in Kinnaur to chill out a bit. And Harpreet may not be the only one, going by the data given out by the Shimla Weather Observatory, established in 1840 at the Viceregal Lodge, which now houses the Indian Institute of Advance Studies.

"Significantly, it's only in temperature recordings of the last 20 years that new highs are emerging," said Shimla meteorological station director Manmohan Singh. May 26th maximum was 30.9 degree Celsius. Although Friday tended to be better, with an overnight drizzle bringing down the temperature to 28.1 degrees, the scorching sun in the mid and lower hills of the state, with the mercury way above normal, has forced residents and tourists to stay indoors. Shops that are open for long hours in summers are taking longer lunch breaks. The downtown Mall wears a deserted look in the afternoons.