The heat wave alert having been lifted, Palakkad in Kerala saw mercury relenting somewhat to 41.6 degree Celsius on Thursday from 42 degree Celsius the previous day.

This is still 5.7 degree Celsius above the normal for this district in the north-eastern parts of the State, which is buffeted by dry easterlies to northeasterlies from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

The expectation is that the mercury will drop further , and thundershowers will break out over parts of Kerala during the weekend.

In other parts , like Odisha and Gangetic West Bengal and isolated places over Bihar, Jharkhand and interior Karnataka, heat wave conditions prevailed.

During the 24 hours ending on Thursday, thunderstorms lashed Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand as a western disturbance checked in at the border. Thunderstorms also broke out over some of the heat wave-hit regions in Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Odisha in the East, Kerala in the South, and the north-eastern States.

The highest temperature of 45 degree Celsius during the period was recorded at Bankura in Gangetic West Bengal and Wardha in Vidarbha, to either side of Odisha, which has been witnessing the most heat in the plains during the past week .

India Meteorological Department has now forecast that temperatures will start building up over North-West India during the next two-three days.

Associated build-up of clouds has put a cap on the heating in this region; but that is now expected to change, the Met said in its outlook.

But even this heating phase will be short-lived; it is likely to be interrupted by a fresh western disturbance scheduled to roll in across the border and impact weather both in the hills and adjoining plains.

Thunderstorms accompanied by squall/hail are likely over Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura and heavy rain at isolated places over Arunachal Pradesh.

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