Kolkata, Feb 23 : The Regional Meteorological Centre at Alipore on Monday forecast scattered rain across south Bengal, including Kolkata, over the coming week.

According to MET officials, at least nine districts in South Bengal are expected to get light to moderate rain. However, there is no forecast of heavy rain anywhere at present in the state.

Kolkata may experience scattered light to moderate rain on Tuesday. There may be thunderstorms, as well as occasional gusty winds, in the city. The same forecast has been issued for the districts of Howrah, Hooghly, and North 24 Parganas. Scattered rains may occur in Bankura on Monday itself. Apart from this, separate warnings have been issued for South 24 Parganas, East Midnapore, West Midnapore, and Jhargram districts.

There is a forecast of rain with thunderstorms in these districts from Tuesday onwards. A yellow warning has been issued in this regard. The weather is expected to remain mainly dry for the remaining days.

"A low-pressure area has formed over the Bay of Bengal. Due to its influence, there is a possibility of rain in the state. Along with south Bengal, there is a possibility of thunderstorms in north Bengal as well," said the MET official.

Light rain with scattered thunderstorms may occur in some areas of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, and Kalimpong districts on Monday and Tuesday. However, no separate warning has been issued for these districts. The MET office said that there is unlikely to be any major change in the temperature in the districts of north and south Bengal in the next seven days.

For the last week, the temperature across Bengal has been rising. On Monday morning, the minimum temperature in Kolkata was 20.6 degrees Celsius, 1.1 degrees above normal. The maximum temperature in the city on Sunday was 31.2 degrees Celsius, 0.7 degrees above normal.

On Monday, the minimum temperature did not fall below 17 degrees in any district of South Bengal. The minimum temperature in Salt Lake on the outskirts of Kolkata was 21 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature, however, is expected to rise further.

/IANS