New Delhi: Sticking to its previous prediction of the southwest monsoon reaching the Indian mainland on Saturday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that Kerala is likely receive rainfall today. The weathermen has also declared red alert in four districts of the state as the southwest monsoon is set to make it’s official presence in the country. A red alert, which means ‘very heavy’ to ‘extremely heavy’ rainfall, has been issued in Thrissur district on June 10 and in Ernakulam, Malappuram, and Kozhikode districts on June 11, as per the report.

The monsoon is likely to move north-northwestwards and intensify gradually.

Meanwhile, if you are hoping for a respite from the scorching heat in Delhi-NCR, then your wait is going to get a little longer as IMD has predicted that temperatures in the national capital will remain high due to a heatwave, which is expected to last three days at least.

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As per IMD, heatwave is likely to prevail over Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, north Chhattisgarh and south Uttar Pradesh this week. People in Delhi got a little relief on Friday after maximum temperature fell to 40.2 degrees Celsius from 44.0 degress Celsius a day ago. On Saturday, maximum temperature is expected to hover around 42 degees Celsius.

Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, and north-eastern states are set to receive rainfall this week. In Delhi, there can be rains on June 11 owing to pre-monsoon activities. The monsoon is expected to reach Delhi in the first week of July.

Heatwave persists in north, central India

The north and central regions of India seethed under heatwave conditions Friday forcing people to stay indoors, even as a severe dust storm and lightning in various parts of Uttar Pradesh claimed at least 26 lives and left 57 injured.

The weatherman has warned of heatwave conditions continuing in north and central India next week, and predicted "severe heatwave" in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Vidarbha in Maharashtra from Saturday till Tuesday.

On Friday, Hoshangabad in west Madhya Pradesh was the hottest at 46.8 degrees Celsius, while Rajasthan's Churu was close behind at 46.6 degrees Celsius.

However rainfall brought slight respite from the heat in parts of Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and some eastern states including, Wset Bengal Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand.

Heatwave continued in parts of Rajasthan notwithstanding slight drop in temperatures compared to Thursday as Barmer sizzled at 46.4 degrees Celsius, Kota 46.1 degrees Celsius and Bikaner 45.8 degrees Celsius.

In the national capital, the mercury dipped marginally due to strong wind activity, gusting up to 20 kilometers per hour, with the city recording a high of 40.5 degrees Celsius, normal for this time of the year.

Dust storm, lightning claim 26 lives in UP

Meanwhile, light to moderate rains occurred in parts of Uttar Pradesh on Friday, where severe dust storm and lightning the previous night claimed six lives in Mainpuri, three each in Etah and Kasganj, two each in Farrukhabad and Barabanki, and one each in Moradabad, Badaun, Pilibhit, Mathura, Kannauj, Sambhal, Ghaziabad, Amroha, Badaun and Mahoba.

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Forty-one people were injured in Mainpuri district and uprooted trees blocked vehicular movement on the state highways. Police said most of the injuries occurred when people sleeping inside their mud houses were caught unawares by the thunderstorm, which was accompanied by rain, leading to wall collapse.

(With inputs from agencies)