The Department of Meteorology has issued a severe lightning advisory covering seven of Sri Lanka’s nine provinces and the Mannar District, warning of thundershowers during Saturday evening and night.
The advisory applies to the North Western, Central, Sabaragamuwa, Uva, Western, Southern and North Central provinces, and the Mannar District, NewsFirst reported. The department said thundershowers may occur at various locations in those areas during the evening or night.
The public has been advised to take precautions to minimise the risk of lightning-related accidents.
What changed since Thursday
This is the second severe lightning advisory in three days, but it is not a repeat of the earlier one — the affected band has moved west and grown.
Thursday’s Amber-level advisory, valid until 11.30 p.m. on 1 October, covered the Central, Sabaragamuwa, Uva, Eastern and North Central provinces and Mannar. Saturday’s notice drops the Eastern Province and adds the North Western, Western and Southern provinces — extending the warning across the whole of the populated south-west, including the Colombo conurbation, which was not covered on Thursday.
The two advisories share four areas: Central, Sabaragamuwa, Uva and North Central provinces, plus Mannar.
Separately, a warm weather advisory issued on Thursday afternoon for the Northern, North-Central and Eastern provinces and Monaragala ran until 3 October. Daytime heat followed by evening thunderstorms is the characteristic pattern of the second inter-monsoon, which runs through October and November and is the island’s most electrically active season.
Safety guidance
The Meteorology Department’s standing advice during severe lightning is to:
- Remain indoors for the duration of the storm
- Avoid sheltering under trees
- Stay out of open ground — paddy fields, tea plantations and open water in particular
- Avoid using wired telephones and mains-connected electrical appliances
Lightning kills and injures people in Sri Lanka every year, and the casualties fall disproportionately on those working in open land rather than on those caught in heavy rain. Two farmers were killed by a single strike at Vijithapura in an earlier incident this year.
Not reported
NewsFirst’s report does not give the time the advisory was issued, the hour it expires, or the warning level — Thursday’s notice was explicitly Amber, and this one carries no stated colour. It does not say whether strong winds or heavy falls are expected alongside the lightning, and it does not name the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre officer who issued it.
No other verified newsroom had filed on Saturday’s advisory at the time of writing. The aggregator Newswire reported the same seven-province advisory earlier in the day; its account matches on the area covered.
A caution for readers searching this story: the Meteorology Department issues near-identically worded lightning advisories several times a month, and a report headlined “severe lightning advisory issued for several areas” dated 2 October refers to a different notice. The province list is the reliable discriminator.
