Kolkata, July 31 : The incessant rain, which has been battering Kolkata and several South Bengal districts, will continue till next week, with no immediate respite in sight, weather officials said on Thursday.

According to the Met office, Kolkata and seven districts of south Bengal will receive heavy rains on Thursday due to a cyclonic circulation over Gangetic West Bengal. In the remaining districts, thunderstorms with lightning will occur with wind speeds reaching 40 kilometres per hour.

On Thursday morning, the Regional Meteorological Centre in Kolkata's Alipore said that the cyclonic circulation positioned over Gangetic West Bengal and adjacent Bangladesh is located between the northwest Bay of Bengal and Odisha coasts.

In addition, the monsoon axis is currently extending along Bikaner, Ranchi, and Digha to the northeast Bay of Bengal. Due to the influence of these two systems, light to moderate rain will continue in the south Bengal districts till next week. There is also a possibility of heavy to very heavy rain in some districts.

"Due to the presence of two systems and active monsoon winds, West Bengal is witnessing a prolonged spell of rains. The situation will not improve as the rains will continue till next week. The intensity of rain will vary depending on the changing weather systems," said a Met department official.

On Thursday, East Burdwan, West Burdwan, Birbhum, Murshidabad, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, and Nadia may experience scattered to heavy rain. On Friday, light to heavy rains will continue in all these districts. Scattered rains will occur in all districts of south Bengal till next Tuesday.

Meanwhile, districts of north Bengal, which are already reeling under incessant rains resulting in overflowing rivers, will witness heavy to very heavy rains from Friday onwards.

A warning of heavy rain has been issued in Darjeeling, North Dinajpur, and Malda districts on Thursday and Friday. Heavy rains are also likely to occur in South Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri, and Kalimpong districts from Friday. The rain will intensify further from Saturday in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong, and Alipurduar districts and continue till Monday.

The water level of the Teesta River has risen, inundating large areas of north Bengal, including Teesta Bazar. Water from the river has entered the National Highway-20, resulting in the suspension of vehicular traffic movement between Sikkim and north Bengal's Siliguri. Landslides have also occurred in several places in the hills.

Meanwhile, the sky over Kolkata has been cloudy since Thursday morning. The minimum temperature in Kolkata on Thursday was 25.7 degrees Celsius, 0.9 degrees below normal. The maximum temperature on Wednesday was 28.5 degrees Celsius, 4 degrees below normal.

/IANS