The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday predicted heavy rainfall over north and northeast India.

The premier weather forecasting department issued a red warning for West Bengal, Assam, and Meghalaya from July 19-21. An orange alert has been issued over Uttarakhand, Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar from July 19-20.

From July 18, the IMD stated that the monsoon is likely to shift northwards gradually towards the foothills of Himalayas. Moreover, the convergence of moist southerly, south-westerly winds from the Bay of Bengal over Northeast and adjoining East India and from Arabian Sea over northwest India at lower tropospheric levels very likely from July 18.

Isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall over North India is very likely during July 18 - 20, and over northeast east India during July 18 -21. Extremely heavy rainfall is likely to occur over sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, and Meghalaya during July 19- 21 over Arunachal Pradesh during July 19 -20, the IMD stated.

The coming rains could be very devastating for the state of Assam, currently reeling from a flood situation. Over 35 lakh people across 28 of the state's 33 districts are now affected due to flooding, an official bulletin issued by the state government stated on Friday.   

"The total number of people losing their lives in this year's flood and landslides in the state has gone up to 102. While 76 people died in flood-related incidents," the official bulletin added.