Heavy monsoon rains continuing for the past 36 hours have wreaked havoc in many parts of Himachal’s Sirmaur district, prompting the Paonta administration to declare a holiday on Friday for educational institutions.

As per official information, landslides have occurred at several places in the rural areas of the district, but no loss of life has been reported so far, except the death of one ox which slipped into a deep gorge near Shillai late Thursday evening.

Sirmaur’s main rivers, Tons, Yamuna, Bata, Giri and Markanda, and dozens of streams are in spate. The administration has advised people to stay away from them.

Paonta Sub-Divisional Officer Dwij Goyal has declared a holiday on Friday for all government and private educational institutions in the Paonta sub-division of Himachal’s Sirmaur district in view of an alert issued by the India Meteorological Department for heavy rainfall and thunderstorms.

– PTI

Rain lashed parts of Delhi in the early hours of today, extending a wet spell in the national capital and bringing much-needed relief to residents from the recent humid conditions.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an “Orange Alert” for the capital, signalling heavy rainfall over the region through most of the day.

Continuous rain led to slight waterlogging in parts of the city, including the New Delhi Railway Station, Munirka and other parts.

According to IMD, fairly widespread to widespread rainfall is likely over Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and West Uttar Pradesh until July 10. A fresh spell of rain is expected to continue over Northeast Uttar Pradesh till July 13, while East Rajasthan is likely to see similar activity on July 9.

– ANI

The Centre on Tuesday (July 7, 2026) said that the rainfall deficit has come down to 12%, with the first week of July recording above-normal monsoon activity, and asserted that an El Nino year may not necessarily lead to below-normal rainfall.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in the context of the progress of the kharif season and possible impact due to El Nino on other sectors of the economy, a high-level review meeting was held under the chairmanship of Principal Secretary to Prime Minister PK Mishra to review and take stock of the preparedness measures undertaken in this regard.

At the outset of the meeting, officials of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) presented the overall rainfall situation from June to July 7, while its director general provided an update on the status of monsoon coverage in the country and the possible impact of El Nino.

There was a delay in the onset of monsoon by about 10 days in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.

– PTI

Delhi residents woke up to cloudy skies and a windy, pleasant morning on Friday (June 12, 2026) as the minimum temperature dropped to 22.8 degrees Celsius after an overnight rain.

The city’s base weather monitoring station, Safdarjung, recorded a minimum temperature of 22.8 degrees Celsius, 5.2 notches below normal, marking a sharp 24-hour fall of 7.2 degrees. Among the other stations, Palam recorded a minimum temperature of 21.6 degrees Celsius, 6.5 notches below normal, registering a 24-hour decline of 7 degrees.

Lodhi Road recorded 22 degrees Celsius, 6 notches below normal, down 6.8 degrees from the previous day. Ridge logged a minimum of 20.9 degrees Celsius, 5.7 notches below normal, witnessing a 24-hour drop of 7.5 degrees, while Ayanagar recorded 22.6 degrees Celsius, 4.9 notches below normal, with the sharpest decline of 8 degrees.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the maximum temperature is likely to settle around 34 degrees Celsius. The weather office has forecast thunderstorms accompanied by light rainfall, lightning and gusty winds of 40-50 km per hour during the forenoon, afternoon and evening hours.

Mahesh Palawat, vice-president (Meteorology and Climate Change) at Skymet Weather, said gusty winds and isolated rain activity across the region were being driven by a cyclonic circulation over central Pakistan and adjoining areas. He said pre-monsoon activity is expected to intensify, bringing fairly widespread rainfall across Delhi, Haryana and Punjab. – PTI

The southwest monsoon, which set over Kerala on June 4, marking the beginning of the four-month-long rainy season in India, advanced into North Bengal and the northeastern States on Tuesday (June 9, 2026).

North Bengal is the gateway to the eight northeastern States.

The weather office said conditions remain favourable for further advance of the monsoon into eastern, central and western India in the next four to five days.

In a bulletin issued on Tuesday (June 9, 2026), the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, “The southwest monsoon has further advanced into the remaining parts of northeastern states, entire Sikkim and some parts of sub-Himalayan West Bengal.” It has forecast heavy rain in the north Bengal districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar till June 13.

– PTI