Mercury rising in Himachal, but showers in store

 Widespread rains and thundershowers have been forecast over the next few days in Himachal Pradesh, even as the state witnessed a rise in mercury on Monday and recorded temperatures one to five degrees above the average.

"A fresh Western disturbance is likely to be active in the Western Himalayas till April 18," an official of the Meteorological Department here told IANS.

Tourists and locals have been discouraged to go to higher reaches, a government statement said.

The hill state continued to experience hot weather with the day temperature crossing the 37 degrees Celsius mark in some areas. Una town was the hottest in the state at 37.2 degrees Celsius.

Sundernagar in Mandi district recorded a maximum temperature of 34.1 degrees Celsius, while it was 23.8 degrees in Dharamsala and 22.4 degrees in Kalpa in Kinnaur district.

Shimla was hot at 26.6 degrees Celsius, six notches above average.

Popular tourist resorts like Narkanda, Kufri, Kasauli, Manali, Palampur, Chamba and Dalhousie also experienced hot weather.-IANS