MADRAS, Dec 14: A cyclonic storm building up in the Bay of Bengal is threatening to hit India’s southern region between the neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, weather officials said on Sunday.

A Cyclone Warning Centre in Tamil Nadu’s state capital Madras said that heavy rains and winds measuring up to 100 kilometres per hour were likely to lash the region on Monday evening.

Heavy rainfall was also expected in Tamil Nadu’s adjoining territory of Pondicherry, the cyclone centre said in a special bulletin.

Fishermen have been asked not to go to the sea and residents were told that temporary power blackouts were possible because of the bad weather.—AFP