At least 24 folks have been killed by lightning and intense rain and hailstorms in India, officers stated.

The climate broken homes and killed livestock throughout western Gujarat state.

Storms are uncommon in Gujarat throughout winter, meteorologists stated, and the fierce downpour caught many off guard.

Flash floods and lightning strikes kill hundreds of individuals in India every year. Scientists are warning that rising world temperatures are fuelling a surge in excessive climate occasions.

Rising land and sea floor temperatures heat the air above and make extra vitality obtainable to drive thunderstorms from the place lightning emanates.

Rain and hailstorms have been anticipated to proceed in western India on Monday.

At least 18 of the 24 deaths have been attributed to the lightning strikes, officers stated in a press release late on Sunday.

Gujarat state was hit by heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and hailstorms on Sunday and Monday, with some areas receiving as much as 144mm (5.7 inches) of rain in 24 hours, Reuters information company reported citing state authorities knowledge.

The collision of three climate techniques over Gujarat induced the lightning strikes, in response to Manorama Mohanty, head of the Indian Metrological Department in Ahmedabad.

“These are the easterly winds flowing from the Arabian Sea, the Western Disturbance over the Western Himalayas and the Cyclonic Circulation over South Gujarat,” Ms Mohanty informed BBC Gujarati.

India’s Home Minister Amit Shah stated he was “deeply saddened” by the deaths, including that native authorities have been participating in aid work.

Farmer Yogesh Patel, 42, died on his farm when lightning hit a tree he was sheltering beneath in heavy rain.

Shantilal Patel, an in depth household good friend, informed the BBC that Mr Patel is survived by his three youngsters and a spouse.

“He was in his farm below a tree when the lightning hit him. When we saw his body, it seemed that the mobile phone in his left pocket of shirt was blasted due to lightning which killed him on the spot,” she stated.

In India, lightning strikes killed greater than 100,000 folks between 1967 and 2019, in response to official knowledge. This is greater than a 3rd of fatalities attributable to pure hazards throughout this era.

India recorded greater than 18 million lightning strikes between April 2020 and March 2021, in response to a research by the non-profit Climate Resilient Observing Systems Promotion Council. This was a 34% rise over the same interval through the earlier 12 months.

Additional reporting by BBC Gujarati’s Daxesh Shah and Roxy Gagdekar Chhara