CHENNAI: As the conditions were favourable for further advance of southwest monsoon in Tamil Nadu during the next three to four days starting from Thursday, the weather office here said that heavy rain is expected in more than 15 districts of the State.

A latest bulletin from the Regional Meteorological Centre here on Thursday said that heavy rain with thunderstorm and lightning with gusty winds with speeds reaching 40-50 kmph is expected to occur at Western Ghats areas of Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari, Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Erode, Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Tirupattur, Vellore, Ranipet, Tiruvannamalai,Villupuram, Kallakurichi, Theni, Dindigul, Cuddalore and Mayiladuthurai districts.

The report further said that due to heavy rain, there would be a gradual fall in maximum temperature from June 11 to 14 over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal areas.

For Chennai, the weather office predicted that hot and humid weather is expected to prevail. However, light to moderate rain with thunderstorms and lightning is likely to occur during the evening or night.

Oothu in Tirunelveli recorded a maximum rainfall of 11 centimetres during the last 24 hours, followed by Vint Worth Estate at Nilgiris, which received nine centimeters during the same period.

However, Chennai recorded the highest maximum temperature of 40.7 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.