MADURAI: In view of the incessant rainfall, schools have been shut down in Madurai districts on Thursday, officials said. Madurai District Collector Sangeetha has declared a holiday for schools in the district on Thursday due to heavy rainfall.

Earlier, waterlogging was witnessed in several districts of Tamil Nadu, including Tiruvannamalai and Erode, which recorded moderate to heavy rainfall on Tuesday.

With the onset of the northeast monsoon, the state witnessed heavy downpours across several districts. The India Meteorological Department has issued an isolated heavy rainfall alert for Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry and Karaikal, Coastal and South Interior Karnataka, Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra Pradesh.

Waterlogging was reported in Erode because of the continuous heavy rainfall. In low-lying areas, rainwater is mixed with drain water, inundating houses.

Parts of the Madurai district were also left inundated due to the incessant rainfall in the state. Heavy rainfall in southern India occurs due to the northeast monsoons, also known as the winter monsoon.

The Northeast monsoon is the counterpart of the Southwest monsoon and usually occurs between October and December.

It is a comparatively smaller-scale version of the southwest monsoon, especially confined to the southern peninsula.