The India Meteorological Department on Wednesday issued an orange alert for Delhi and predicted moderate rainfall in the city and its adjoining areas during the day. An orange alert is a warning for extremely bad weather that can potentially disrupt traffic and cause waterlogging on the roads. It indicates that authorities should be prepared to take action.

The weather department has also issued a yellow alert for Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, according to the Hindustan Times. A yellow alert indicates bad weather and asks authorities to stay alert.

In an update around noon on Wednesday, the India Meteorological Department predicted thunderstorm with light to moderate intensity rainfall in several parts of the National Capital Region.

Till September 16, when Delhi received the last spell of rains, the city had recorded 1,159.4 millimetre rainfall this monsoon season – the highest in 46 years. On an average, Delhi records 653.6 millimetres of rainfall every year between June 1 and September 15. The southwest monsoon generally withdraws from the city by September 25.

In September alone, the capital recorded 403 millimetres of rainfall. This is the highest amount of precipitation recorded for the month since 1944, when 417.3 millimetres of rain was reported.

Meanwhile, the neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh will receive isolated heavy rains on September 22, while Uttarakhand will receive heavy rain till September 25, the India Meteorological Department said.

East Rajasthan and Gujarat will also receive heavy rainfall between September 21 and 25. Fairly widespread is expected over in the eastern part and Vidarbha region of Madhya Pradesh and in its neighbouring state Chhattisgarh till September 24, the weather department said.