Heat wave across India drives death toll to more than 1,800

An Indian snacks vendor rests on a lawn on a hot summer day in Ahmadabad, India, Thursday, May 28, 2015. Eating onions, lying in the shade and splashing into rivers, Indians were doing whatever they could Thursday to stay cool during a brutal heat wave that has killed more than 1,000 in the past month. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

HYDERABAD, India — Dizzying temperatures have killed hundreds more Indians, driving the death toll from a weeks-long heat wave to at least 1,826.

Meteorological officials called the heat wave “severe” and warned it would continue for at least another two days across a huge swathe of the South Asian country from Tamil Nadu in the south to the Himalayan foothill state of Himachal Pradesh.

READ: About 1,100 people dead as summer temperatures soar in India

Most of those killed by heat-related conditions including dehydration and heat stroke have been in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Cooling monsoon rains were expected next week in the south before gradually advancing north.