Bhubaneswar: A low pressure area has formed over the northwest Bay of Bengal off the north Odisha and West Bengal coasts, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said today.

According to the agency, the weather system developed around 5:30 am today under the influence of the upper-air cyclonic circulation that persisted over the north Bay of Bengal and adjoining south Bangladesh on Monday.

The IMD said the low pressure area is very likely to move west-northwestwards across north Odisha and Gangetic West Bengal over the next two days, increasing the likelihood of widespread rainfall across several parts of the state.

Jagatsinghpur district has been placed under a red warning, with heavy to very heavy rainfall and extremely heavy rainfall expected at one or two places during the day.

An orange warning has been issued for Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Keonjhar, Kandhamal, Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh and Dhenkanal districts, where heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely at one or two places.

The IMD has also issued a yellow warning for Balasore, Sundargarh, Deogarh, Angul, Mayurbhanj, Boudh, Rayagada, Gajapati and Ganjam districts, forecasting heavy rainfall at one or two places.