Thiruvananthapuram, 5 June

Heavy rains and strong winds continued to lash several parts of Kerala on Friday, and several tree branches fell down, damaging vehicles and property.

The IMD issued an orange alert in eight districts of the state for the day.

The rains are expected to intensify during the weekend as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert in five districts -- Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod -- for Saturday and three -- Malappuram, Kozhikode and Wayanad -- districts on Sunday.

In view of the red alert, entry to tourist trekking spots and night travel on hilly roads as well as quarrying activities have been prohibited in Wayanad, Kozhikode and Kasaragod districts.

Holidays were declared for educational institutions in Wayanad and Kasaragod districts on 6 June.

For Friday, the IMD issued an orange alert in Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod districts of the state. Besides that, it issued a yellow alert in the remaining six districts of the state.

Heavy rains caused waterlogging and flooding in many low-lying areas under the Kochi corporation, leading to protests outside its office.

In Kozhikode, heavy rains and strong winds damaged the roofs of some buildings and brought down tree branches that damaged vehicles.

The rains also resulted in the collapse of walls in some parts of Kozhikode, but no one was injured, and only some vehicles were damaged.

The weather agency also said that thunderstorms with moderate to heavy rainfall and strong winds reaching 40 kilometres per hour were likely in various parts of these districts.

A red alert indicates an extremely heavy rain of over 20 cm in 24 hours, while an orange alert means very heavy rain of 11 cm to 20 cm, and a yellow alert means heavy rainfall between 6 cm and 11 cm.