Thiruvananthapuram: Cyclone Ditwah has formed near Sri Lanka in the Bay of Bengal and is expected to affect north Bengal, Puducherry and the southern coast of Andhra Pradesh by Sunday, prompting alerts in these regions.

Kerala is likely to receive heavy rainfall on Friday and Saturday, with a yellow alert issued for Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Idukki districts on Friday, and for Pathanamthitta, Idukki, Palakkad, Malappuram and Wayanad districts on Saturday. Fishing has been banned along the Kerala and Lakshadweep coasts until November 30.

The cyclone, named Ditwah by Yemen, intensified unusually quickly, taking just 12 hours to develop from an extreme low-pressure system into a full-fledged cyclone, a process that normally takes two to three days. Such rapid intensification occurs when atmospheric and oceanic conditions are favourable.