7 killed in lightning strikes in UP, Odisha; light rains likely in Delhi tomorrow

Seven people were killed in lightning strikes in Uttar Pradesh and Odisha today and heavy rain lashed Shimla and its adjoining areas, even as hot weather conditions continued in Punjab and Haryana.

It was a hot day in the national capital with the MeT department forecasting the possibility of a thunderstorm tonight and light rains tomorrow.

The maximum temperature was recorded at 40.5 degrees Celsius in Delhi, normal for this time of the year. The humidity level was between 68 and 44 per cent, it said.

In Uttar Pradesh, as many as five people were killed in separate incidents of lightning strikes in Jaunpur and Rae Bareli districts with isolated places in the state experiencing light to moderate and heavy rains. Lightning also killed two people in Odisha's Kendrapara district.

Heavy rains lashed Himachal Pradesh capital Shimla and its adjoining areas this afternoon causing a drop in day temperatures, even as Una in the lower hills recorded a high of 42 degrees Celsius.

The local meteorological (MeT) office has warned of thunderstorm with gusty winds at isolated places in Shimla, Solan, Sirmaur, Mandi and Kullu districts tomorrow and the day after.

Key tourist resort of Kufri near Shimla was the wettest with 44 mm of rains while Chhaila and Kandaghat received 21 mm and 20 mm of precipitation. Shimla recorded 19 mm of rain in just one hour.

Light rains brought down day temperatures at a few places in Rajasthan, even as Churu was the hottest place in the state recording a high of 45.5 degrees Celsius.

Sriganganagar, Kota, Bikaner, Pilani and Jaipur recorded maximum of 45.3 degrees Celsius, 44.2 degrees Celsius, 43.6 degrees Celsius, 43.1 degrees Celsius and 42.2 degrees Celsius respectively.

Bonli area in Sawaimadhopur district recorded 1 cm of rains since yesterday, the meteorological department said.

Hot weather conditions continued to prevail in most parts of Haryana and Punjab today, with Hisar sizzling at 45 degrees Celsius, three notches above the normal.

In Haryana, Bhiwani recorded a high of 44.5 degrees Celsius, while Ambala had a hot day at 39.1 degrees Celsius, while in Punjab, Amritsar recorded a high of 41.3 degrees Celsius, up one notch against the normal.

On the advancement of monsoon, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has alerted residents on India's west coast about the possibility of "extremely heavy rainfall" in parts of the region during next two to three days.

The Southwest Monsoon moves from sea to land and remains active from June through September over the Indian subcontinent. It has two branches - the Arabian sea branch and the Bay of Bengal branch - that bring rainfall across India.

The IMD said the monsoon has advanced to parts of central Arabian Sea, Goa, Karnataka, Rayalaseema region and coastal Andhra Pradesh, parts of south Konkan, south-central Maharashtra, Marathwada, Vidarbha, south Chhattisgarh, south Odisha, Telangana, and west-central and north Bay of Bengal.

It said the conditions are favourable for further advance of the monsoon into central Arabian Sea, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Odisha and remaining parts of coastal Andhra Pradesh during next 24 hours.

"Increased rainfall activity over coastal Karnataka, Goa and south Maharashtra is likely to continue till June 10. It is very likely to extend to north coastal Maharashtra, including Mumbai, from tomorrow. Extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places in these regions is very likely during this period," the IMD said.

The rainfall activity over the regions is likely to reduce from June 12.

Mumbai and its satellite cities have been alerted about the possible heavy rainfall.