Thiruvananthapuram | As heavy rains lashed parts of central and southern Kerala, the IMD issued an orange alert in seven districts on Friday morning.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange alert in the districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki and Ernakulam for three hours from 7am.

Additionally, schools and colleges were closed in Thiruvananthapuram district.

The IMD also predicted thunderstorms with light to moderate rainfall with surface wind speed reaching 40 kmph in the seven districts where an orange alert was sounded.

It also said that moderate to light rainfall and strong winds were likely in other districts of the state.

An 'orange alert' denotes "very heavy" rainfall of 11 to 20 cm.