Kolkata, Sep 17 : The Regional Meteorological Centre on Wednesday issued an orange alert for heavy rain in several districts of West Bengal over the next few days.

According to the met department, thunderstorms are likely across South Bengal, including Kolkata, from Wednesday to Friday. Along with this, heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorms is likely in East Burdwan, West Burdwan, Bankura, Birbhum, Murshidabad, and Purulia districts. Accordingly, an orange alert has been issued for these districts.

On Saturday, there is a possibility of scattered thunderstorms in all districts of South Bengal.

"There is a cyclonic circulation over East Bihar and adjacent areas. There is another cyclonic circulation over the southeast Bay of Bengal as well. There are two more such systems in the areas adjacent to northeast Bangladesh and central Assam. This is resulting in moisture incursion from the Bay of Bengal. Due to this, rain will occur in South Bengal districts. There is also a possibility of heavy rain at some places," said a met department official.

Although the temperature may decrease slightly due to rain, there will be discomfort due to high humidity in the air.

At the same time, there is a possibility of heavy rain in north Bengal this week as well. Very heavy rain is likely in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong, Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, and North Dinajpur districts from Wednesday onwards. An orange alert has been issued for these six districts.

Scattered thunderstorms are also likely in South Dinajpur and Malda districts. Heavy rain is also forecast in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong, Alipurduar, and Cooch Behar districts on Thursday. Thunderstorms are likely in North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, and Malda districts on Friday.

Meanwhile, the minimum temperature in Kolkata on Wednesday was 26.6 degrees Celsius, 0.2 degrees above normal. The maximum temperature in the city on Tuesday was 31.1 degrees Celsius, 1.7 degrees below normal.

/IANS