Chandigarh: Early morning rains lashed Chandigarh and surrounding areas on Monday while authorities in Haryana and Punjab remained on high alert following a storm advisory issued by the Met Department.

Schools in Haryana were ordered to remain closed for two days (Monday and Tuesday) as a preventive measure in view of the weather warning. A few private schools in Chandigarh also announced closure for two days.

The maximum temperatures at most places in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh remained between 31.5 to 38.5 degrees Celsius on Sunday with rainfall at some places and overcast sky at several in others.

The Met office has predicted thunderstorms, accompanied by strong winds and rain, in Haryana and Punjab and Punjab starting from Monday to Wednesday.

Agra On 48-hour Weather Alert Till Wednesday

Strong surface winds followed by hail storm turned the weather here in Uttar Pradesh on Monday prompting an alert from the Met office for the next 48 hours till Wednesday.

District Magistrate Gaurav Dayal issued a detailed advisory with "Dos and Don'ts", gearing up for another deadly storm as the Met warned of high velocity winds and heavy showers in the region. The administrative machinery in the hinterland was also boosted up for any eventuality. On Monday, Mainpuri, Firozabad and Mathura suffered heavy losses after winds over 100-kmph lashed the districts followed by the hail storm. In Mainpuri, a 11-year-old girl was killed as a tree fell on her.

In Mathura, the squall damaged hoardings, snapped electric lines and uprooted a number of trees. The Met warning was already on for Monday and Tuesday. The April 11 and May 2 dust storms that devastated the entire Braj Mandal, took away 70 lives, injured hundreds and devastated properties worth in crores. The injured were still recuperating at a special ward in the Agra Medical College.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had to cut short his election campaign in Karnataka and rush to Agra. Thousands of trees have been uprooted and electric poles twisted disrupting power supply to hundreds of villages. IANS