Thiruvananthapuram: Heavy rain continues to lash Kerala following the onset of the monsoon. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for 11 districts in the state for Monday. In response, district collectors in 10 of these districts have declared a holiday for all educational institutions as a precautionary measure.

A holiday has been declared for all educational institutions in the Idukki, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Kannur, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Malappuram, Pathanamthitta, and Kasaragod districts. However, the district collectors confirmed in separate Facebook posts that examinations that were previously scheduled in Kasaragod, Malappuram, and Kottayam will be conducted as planned.

A red alert is also in place for 11 districts on Monday — Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Malappuram, Palakkad, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Kottayam, Idukki, and Pathanamthitta. The remaining districts are under an orange alert. These areas are likely to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall, ranging from 7 to 20 cm in 24 hours. 

The IMD has also warned of strong surface winds, with speeds reaching 50–60 km/h, likely to prevail occasionally over Kerala and Lakshadweep on May 25 and 26. 

It has also issued a warning for high waves along the entire Kerala coastline and has further prohibited fishing along the coasts of Kerala, Karnataka, and Lakshadweep.

The IMD has said that a low-pressure area is likely to form over the west-central and adjoining north Bay of Bengal around May 27. Additionally, strong westerly winds are expected to persist in the lower tropospheric levels over Kerala and the Lakshadweep region for the next seven days. These conditions are likely to influence rainfall patterns in the state, with heavy to extremely heavy rainfall expected across Kerala during this period, the agency added.

The weather agency also said that the southwest monsoon has further advanced some more parts of Karnataka, entire Goa, some parts of Maharashtra, the westcentral and north Bay of Bengal, Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland today. It will likely advance into some more parts of the westcentral & eastcentral Arabian Sea on Sunday. 

All mining activities in the Kottayam district have been ordered to halt till May 27 due to the likelihood of heavy rainfall. Tourism places, including Ilaveezhapoonchira, Illikkal Kallu, and Marmala Waterfalls, will be closed until May 26, and night travel has been banned on the Erattupetta–Vagamon road. 

Nilambur in Malappuram recorded a very heavy downpour of 16 cm in the last 24 hours, while Vythiri in Wayanad received 15 cm of rainfall.