Bhubaneswar: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued heavy rainfall warnings for several districts of Odisha after a low pressure area formed over the northwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining areas on Sunday.

According to the IMD, the low pressure area formed at 5.30 am and persisted over the same region at 8.30 am on August 23. An associated cyclonic circulation extends up to 7.6 km above mean sea level and tilts southwestwards with height.

The weather system is expected to bring heavy to very heavy rainfall across several parts of Odisha, with the IMD issuing red, orange and yellow warnings for different districts.

Under the red warning, heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely at a few places, with extremely heavy rainfall at one or two places, in Cuttack, Angul, Dhenkanal, Kalahandi and Nabarangpur districts.

An orange warning has been issued for Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Subarnapur, Boudh, Kandhamal, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Puri, Khordha and Nayagarh. Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely at a few places in these districts.

The IMD has also issued a yellow warning for Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Nuapada, Balangir, Gajapati and Ganjam districts, where heavy rainfall is likely at one or two places.