Bhubaneswar, Nov 16 (IANS) Orissa has witnessed the hottest day in November in the last 57 years, an official said here Monday.

'On Sunday we had the highest temperature of the day in the state so far recorded in November since 1952,' Bhubaneswar meteorological centre director S.C. Sahu told IANS.

He said Bhubaneswar recorded 37.6 degrees Celsius temperature Sunday, at least seven degrees above normal.

This Orissa capital had recorded 36 degrees Celsius Nov 18 in 1952.

The maximum temperature in the coastal town of Balasore, some 200 km from here, was recorded at 36.1 degrees Celsius Sunday.

While some environmentalists have attributed this to climate change, Sahu said Bhubaneswar and some other places in the state recorded the high temperature because of subsidence and anti-cyclonic flow.

'Subsidence over Orissa on the upper level and anti-cyclonic flow above 1.5 km of the sea level over a limited region has caused this,' Sahu said.