Monsoon appears to be going into a break: IMD

NEW DELHI: Heavy rains are expected to lash north India and areas along the Himalayan foothills right up to Assam in the next three days, prompting the Met office to issue its highest 'red alert' warning for these places.

Downpours exceeding 115mm could hit some areas, posing a threat of floods and landslides, particularly over the weekend, Met officials warned. The states at risk include Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Bengal and Assam.

Rainfall is also expected to increase in adjoining regions in the northern plains -Ha ryana, NCR and Punjab -as a cyclonic circulation moves into south Uttar Pradesh from Jharkhand.

"We have issued a red alert warning and authorities need to be careful. The next three-four days are likely to see heavy rains in these areas.Thereafter, rainfall would decrease in the northern plains but will continue in the Himalayan areas and its foothills, particularly in the east," said B P Yadav, director, India Meteorological Department. Ironically, the heavy rains in the north come at a time when the overall monsoon system appears to be weakening. Rainfall in central India, known as the core monsoon zone, fell to 44% of normal on Thursday.

"The monsoon appears to be going into a break. The trend could become pronounced after July 17," said P Sivananda Pai, IMD's lead monsoon forecaster. "This means central India would get less rain in the coming days while monsoon activity could continue in the Himalayan foothills and the northeast. Rains could revive around July 25," Pai said.

Meanwhile, monsoon winds covered the entire country , moving into the remaining parts of west Rajasthan and north Gujarat on Wed nesday, two days ahead of the normal date. Overall, seasonal rains since June 1 were 2% above normal across the country . While June had ended with a deficit of 11%, rains in July have so far registered a healthy 18.6% surplus.