111 killed as storms, rain batter UP

At least 111 people died and 72 others were injured in 25 districts after hailstorm, heavy rain and lightning struck Uttar Pradesh between Wednesday and Thursday morning, according to officials.

- HT Correspondent

Officials said the high death toll resulted from a lethal combination of extremely high wind speeds, fragile infrastructure, lightning exposure and the timing of the weather event.

Strong winds with velocities ranging from 74 to 130 kmph hit several districts, the met office said. The highest gusts of 130 kmph were recorded in Bareilly and Prayagraj districts.

M Mohapatra, director general of the India Meteorological Department, explained the conditions that produced the storm. “A western disturbance has just passed. On top of that there was a lot of moisture incursion from the Bay of Bengal. During summer, this creates the perfect condition for a strong thunderstorm.”

A western disturbance is an eastward-moving low-pressure system that typically affects northern India, drawing colder, drier air across the region at upper levels. When such a system interacts with warm, moisture-laden air pushed inland from the Bay of Bengal over intensely heated lower surface, the atmosphere becomes severely unstable. Rising warm air feeds towering thunderclouds; when these collapse, their downdrafts can spread out at the surface as the straight-line winds that flatten trees, walls and power lines.