Heavy rains likely in Kerala as low-pressure area intensifies; orange alert for five districts on October 21

Heavy rain, which has been affecting parts of Kerala for the last few days, is expected to intensify further with the formation of a new low pressure area over the Bay of Bengal. The low pressure area formed over the southeastern Bay of Bengal on Tuesday morning, October 21, 2025, is likely to develop into a depression over the central parts of the southern Bay of Bengal and the adjacent west-central Bay of Bengal during the next 24 hours.

The new system is expected to cause heavy to very heavy rainfall across Kerala, especially in the Ghat regions. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday issued an orange alert warning of very heavy rainfall for Idukki, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad and Malappuram districts and issued a yellow alert for the remaining districts where isolated heavy rainfall is likely.

Red alert on Wednesday

While a red alert was issued for Idukki, Palakkad and Malappuram, where extremely heavy rains are likely on Wednesday, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Wayanad districts were put on orange alert, while the remaining districts were put on yellow alert on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the weather system over the Arabian Sea is moving away from the Kerala coast, although it has intensified in the last 24 hours.

The highest rainfall in the last 24 hours ending 08.30 am on Tuesday, 11 cm, was recorded at Neyyattinkara in Thiruvananthapuram, followed by Quilandi (9 cm) in Kozhikode, Piravom in Ernakulam, Irinjalakuda in Thrissur, Thattathumala in Thiruvananthapuram and Kunnamangalam in Kozhikode. It was recorded with 7 cm each.