Thunderstorm and rain hit Delhi, bring temperatures down

A thunderstorm and rain hit Delhi and its neighbouring areas on Thursday, bringing the mercury down after a spell of scorching heat over the past few days.

After a powerful storm hit the national capital on Wednesday night, the MeT department issued a warning for next 72 hours anticipating similar weather conditions across large parts of north India, including Delhi.

According to the advisory, thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds are very likely at isolated places over Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

There was a western disturbance over north Pakistan and Afghanistan and a cyclonic circulation over south-east Rajasthan and the western parts of Madhya Pradesh, it said, adding that a thunderstorm and a dust-storm were “very likely” in Rajasthan.

Over 100 people were killed in thunderstorms that hit north India on May 2. Western Uttar Pradesh and eastern Rajasthan bore the brunt of the storms as 111 people died in the two states, most of them from house collapses.