Thiruvananthapuram | As heavy rains lashed various parts of Kerala since the previous night, the IMD on Thursday issued an orange alert in three districts of the state for the morning.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange alert in Alappuzha, Kottayam and Ernakulam districts for three hours.

The weather agency said that thunderstorms with heavy rainfall and maximum surface wind speeds reaching 40 kilometers per hour were likely in parts of the state.

Besides that, the IMD predicted thunderstorms with moderate rainfall and maximum surface wind speed reaching 40 kmph are likely to occur in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Idukki and Thrissur districts.

It had earlier issued an orange alert in eight districts of the state for Thursday when the monsoons are expected to hit the state.

An orange alert means very heavy rain of 11 cm to 20 cm