Nine people killed by lightning in West Bengal, snow in HP

New Delhi, June 17 (UNI) Nine people were killed by lightning in West Bengal as mild snow and rain in Himachal Pradesh brought down the temperature in the north-west region today.

At least six people were killed and 10 seriously injured in lightning in different areas under Ranaghat police station.

Besides, three people were killed and nine injured by lightning strikes in Krishnaganj, Nabadwip and Kaliganj areas of Nadia districts in West Bangal.

People of the national capital woke up to heavy pre-monsoon showers for the third consecutive day today.

The rain and cool westerly winds pushed the mercury further down to 32.6 degree from yesterday's 34 degrees Ceisius.

The Met office has forecast a cloudy sky in Delhi during the next 24 hours with more spells of rain and thunder showers accompanied with squalls in some areas.

In the north, heavy rains lashed several parts of Kashmir valley this evening, resulting in a drop in temperature.

Reports of rains were recieved from Srinagar and its adjoining areas, Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Kupwara, Baramulla, Anantnag, Katra, Udhampur, Poonch, Rajouri and Jammu.

The maximum temperatures in Srinagar and Jammu were recorded at 26.4 and 31.1 degrees Celsius respectively.

Day temperatures were appreciably to markedly below normal in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab.

Lucknow recorded 36 degrees C -- three degrees below normal.

The rising humidity at 89 per cent, however, posed lots of hardships for the Lucknowites.

Temperature dropped in Rajasthan due to cloud cover and drizzle in some parts of the state but humid conditions prevailed.

In the east the Southwest Monsoon has been vigorous in Arunachal Pradesh and Asom, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, and coastal Karnataka.

Moving further east, incessant rains continued in Tripura.

NH-44, the lifeline connecting Tripura, Mizoram and Barak Valley remained disrupted after heavy landslides on Friday.

Hundreds of vehicles coming towards Tripura have been stranded for the past two days now and the Border Road Task Force (BRTF) has said the restoration work remains interrupted due to continuous rains.

Down south, rains occurred at most places in Kerala and Lakshadweep with the revival of the monsoons.

According to local weather office, Kollam received the maximum rainfall of 14 cm, followed by Agati nine and Kavarathi seven.

The next 48 hours would see heavy rains at most places in Kerala and Lakshdweep.

The fishermen have been warned about the strong-onshore westerly winds travelling at a speed of 45-55 kmph likely along off Kerala coast and Lakshadweep area.

Generally clear sky over Madhya Pradesh led to a rise in the temperature today, in stark contrast to the pre-monsoon showers that recently lashed the state.

UNI