Chennai, May 7 : The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) has predicted heavy rains in seven districts of Tamil Nadu on Tuesday evening.

Rains are expected in the Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Erode, Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri and Tiruppatur districts of the state.

The weather department has also predicted rains, thunder and lighting at a few places in Puducherry, Kariakkal and some places in Tamil Nadu from May 7 to 12.

The RMC also predicted rains in Tirunelveli, Virudhunagar, Tenkasi, Theni, Nilgiris and Coimbatore districts on Wednesday.

The rains, according to the RMC, is due to the change in the direction of winds prevailing in the lower atmospheric layers.

Tamil Nadu has recieved only 18 mm summer rains during this year, compared to 69 mm rains received during the same period last year. This shows that there is a 73 per cent deficit in summer rains this year compared to last year.

/IANS