HP: Met issues 'orange' alert for heavy rain at isolated places on May 31, June 1

Shimla: An 'orange' alert for heavy rain and a 'yellow' alert for thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds has been issued for isolated places in Himachal Pradesh for the next two days, the meteorological department said on Friday.

Hailstorm followed by heavy rains lashed Shimla on Friday morning, causing inconvenience to school-going children. Dark convective clouds overcast the sky, reducing visibility to a few metres and forcing vehicles to move at a slow pace with headlights on.

The 40 minutes' heavy downpour that started around 7.20 am flooded chocked drains in the town and garbage scattered on the roads.

"The school buses were running late. I got totally drenched waiting for the bus," said Anjali, a class VI student.

Heavy rainfall was also recorded in Solan and Mandi.

Since Thursday evening, Rajgarh received 70 mm of rain followed by 47 mm in Ghaghas, 46.1 mm in Jubbarhatti, 40 mm in Kasauli, 37 mm in Baldwara, 32.4 mm in Dharampur, 30.5 mm in Neri and 30.1 mm in Slapper, data from the local Met read.

Murari Devi received 29.6 mm of rain followed by 29.3 mm in Baggi, 27.6 mm in Shimla, 23.8 mm in Sundernagar, 21.5 mm in Nadaun, 18.3 mm in Dehra Gopipur and 10.8 mm in Bilaspur, it added.

Gusty winds at speeds ranging between 39 to 61 kilometre per hour blew across Bilapsur, Seobagh, Bajaura, Kukumseri and Berthin, the weather office said.

Meawhile thunderstorm lashed Shimla, Jubbarhatti, Kangra, Bhuntar, Murari Devi, Jot, Palampur, Kangra, Baijnath and Sundernagar.

The weather office has issued an 'orange' warning for heavy rain at isolated places in the state on Saturday and Sunday along with a 'yellow' warning for thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds.