Maldives Meteorological Service has issued a yellow alert over north westerly atolls of the Maldives.

MET department had issued the yellow alert following predictions of torrential rain and thunderstorms with gust winds of 45 miles per hour over Shaviyani and Baa atolls from 04:00 p.m. to 07:00 p.m.

While the alert was issued at 03:45 p.m., the service also predicts bad weather to prevail over the country for the next five days with torrential rain shower, thunderstorms, strong gusts of winds and rough seas prevalent over most regions.

MET department forecasts fairly widespread rain with a likelihood of occasional heavy shower and thunderstorms over the country. While it will be mostly cloudy, surface winds will vary between west and north-westerly at 8 to 18 miles per hour in northern atolls, south-west and westerly at 15 to 25 miles per hour over the rest of the country. MET predicts winds to gust 45 miles per hour during showers.

Seas are also predicted to be moderate to rough in northern atolls and generally rough over the rest of the country. MET office advices the general public, especially sea farers to take necessary precautions as bad weather is expected to prevail over the country.