The Department of Meteorology has issued an advisory for severe lightning across 16 districts on Sunday afternoon, with red alerts in force for the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, North-Central and North-Western provinces along with the Galle, Matara, Mannar and Vavuniya districts.
The advisory is effective until 11.30 pm. Thundershowers accompanied by severe lightning are likely at some places after 2.00 pm, the department said. Amber alerts have been issued to a further nine districts during the same window.
The Met Department also warned of temporary localised strong winds during the thundershowers and urged the public to take adequate precautions to minimise lightning-related damage.
Recommended safety measures include moving indoors at the first sign of thunder, avoiding open ground, isolated trees, water bodies and tall metal structures, and unplugging sensitive electronic equipment. Outdoor workers, fishermen along the western and southern coasts and motorcyclists are at the highest exposure during the alert window.
The advisory follows a red alert for 19 districts on April 23 and a Pitakanda lightning fatality in Ratnapura earlier this month, both linked to the active inter-monsoonal convective pattern over the south-west and central highlands.
