Mercury falls across north India

Temperatures in sun-scorched Uttar Pradesh went down considerably on Saturday with heavy to moderate rains reported from most parts of the state.

The state received heavy rains on late Friday night, bringing down the temperature below 28 degree Celsius, six degrees below normal. The weatherman has forecast more rains across the state.

According to state Met director J P Gupta, rain and thundershowers would occur at many places in the state in the next 24 hours.

"An upper air cyclonic circulation is presently over central UP and a trough line (a group of small cyclonic circulations) is also passing throughout the state," Gupta said. With rains lashing most parts of UP, the average temperature which hovered around 43 degree Celsius, fell to 35 degree Celsius on an average, weather official said.

Varanasi on Friday recorded the highest rainfall of 90 mm followed by Bahraich with 54 mm. Districts like Basti, Lakhimpur Kheri, Kanpur, Sultanpur, Allahabad, Mirzapur, Jaunpur and Chitrakoot recorded 50 mm rainfall.

Rains in Punjab, Haryana

The monsoon showers also spelled relief for Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh on Saturday, causing mercury to drop by between two and seven degrees.

Chandigarh was drenched by 118.5 mm rains, providing the much-needed respite to people from hot and humid conditions prevailing in the region for the past six weeks.

In Punjab, Ludhiana received 51 mm downpours, Madhopur 67 mm, Pathankot 52 mm and Phagwara 44 mm.

Ropar and Jalandhar were also lashed by heavy rains. Haryana, Panchkula registered 55 mm rainfall, Kalka 40 mm, Narnaul 36 mm, Ambala 64.2 mm and Rohtak 12.2 mm.

Farmers were happy as rains will boost paddy transplantation. Rains are also expected to ease the power situation.