Heavy rain and thunderstorms swept across Delhi and parts of the NCR on Thursday, bringing much-needed relief from the intense heatwave conditions that had gripped the region over the past few days.
Strong winds, lightning and showers led to a significant drop in temperatures, offering respite to residents struggling with soaring mercury levels.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), another spell of light to moderate rainfall, with intensity reaching up to 10 mm per hour at many places and isolated intense spells of 10-15 mm per hour, is likely to affect Delhi after an hour and continue over the subsequent 1-2 hours.
The Met department had earlier issued weather alerts for Delhi, Noida, Gurugram and nearby regions, warning of severe thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and isolated hailstorms are very likely at many places across the region.
IMD scientist Akhil Srivastava told news agency ANI that the change in weather is expected to bring major relief from the ongoing heatwave in states including Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
However, the IMD has also warned of strong winds and severe weather conditions in several regions, with wind speeds in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and nearby areas may reach 60 to 70 kilometres per hour and could touch 80 kilometres per hour in some places.
