New Delhi: Rapidly evolving weather systems across the Himalayas and the swift advance of the southwest monsoon towards Kerala have triggered widespread rain, thunderstorm and heatwave alerts across India, according to the latest updates from the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Fresh satellite imagery released by the IMD showed dense cloud formations and strong atmospheric activity over northern and southern parts of the country, signalling an active weather phase in the coming days.

Western disturbance fuels storms over Himalayan region

A powerful western disturbance moving across North India has led to unstable weather conditions over the western Himalayan belt. Satellite images captured by the INSAT-3DS weather satellite showed massive spiral-shaped cloud bands covering parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The IMD has issued yellow alerts for rain, thunderstorms and gusty winds in several Himalayan states, warning that unstable weather is likely to continue as the system progresses eastward.

Thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty winds are expected over Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand till Thursday. Light to moderate rainfall and isolated hailstorms have also been forecast in parts of Jammu and Kashmir over the next two days.

An orange alert has additionally been issued for thunderstorms with hailstorms over Delhi, Chandigarh, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir till tomorrow.

Heavy to very heavy rainfall warnings have also been issued for isolated areas in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Bihar, Odisha and Uttarakhand.

Kerala braces for heavy rain as southwest monsoon advances

The southwest monsoon is now rapidly advancing towards Kerala, with the IMD indicating that onset conditions remain favourable around May 26, earlier than the usual schedule.

The weather office has forecast isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall across parts of Kerala between May 28 and June 3 as monsoon activity strengthens.

Heavy rain and strong winds lashed several regions of Kerala on Sunday, prompting the IMD to issue an orange alert for Ernakulam district. Yellow alerts were also issued for 11 other districts, excluding Palakkad and Wayanad.

Apart from Kerala, heavy rainfall is expected over parts of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, East Madhya Pradesh, Konkan, Goa and several northeastern states during the next two to three days.

Thunderstorms accompanied by lightning are also likely over parts of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jharkhand, Bihar and Ladakh, while strong surface winds are expected across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Meanwhile, North and Central India continue to reel under intense heatwave conditions during the ongoing nine-day “Nautapa” period. Temperatures crossed 45 degrees Celsius in several regions, with Uttar Pradesh’s Banda and Maharashtra’s Brahmapuri recording 47.6 degrees Celsius each among the hottest places in the country.

The IMD said heatwave to severe heatwave conditions are likely to persist over parts of northwest and central India for the next four to five days, with gradual relief expected after May 29.

The weather department has also warned of hot and humid conditions over Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Coastal Karnataka, Gangetic West Bengal, Gujarat, Kerala, Goa, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal over the coming days.