The India Meteorological Department on Monday issued an orange alert warning heavy to very heavy and extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places in Madhya Pradesh till Tuesday morning even as showers continue to lash several areas in the state.

As per IMD, heavy (64.5 mm to 115.5 mm) to very heavy (115.6 mm to 204.4 mm) rainfall with extremely heavy rain (more than 204.5 mm) and thunderstorm accompanied by lightning is very likely to occur at isolated places in east Madhya Pradesh.

The alert is valid till Tuesday morning, it stated. Heavy to very heavy rainfall and thunderstorm accompanied by lightning is also very likely at isolated places in west Madhya Pradesh, the alert stated.

IMD's senior meteorologist Ved Prakash Singh said heavy rain with lightning is likely to continue over Sagar, Narsinghpur, Betul, Mandla, Seoni, Chhindwara, Balaghat and Jabalpur districts.

Moderate rain (15.6 mm to 64.4 mm) with lightning is likely to continue over Ashok Nagar, Bhopal, Sehore, Vidiha, Raisen, Burhanpur, Ratlam, Damoh, Chhatarpur, Katni, Shahdol, Anuppur, Singrauli, Sidhi and Umaria, he said.

According to the IMD forecast, light rain (2.5 mm to 15.5 mm) is expected to continue over Sheopur, Shivpuri, Guna, Agar Malwa, Rajgah, Ujjain and other districts.?Twenty-one districts of the central state received rainfall in the last 24 hours ending 8.30 am Monday, the weather data revealed.

Betul district received the highest rainfall of 120.6 mm in the state, followed by Bhopal with 77.2 mm, Ratlam 61.0 mm, Khargone 59.8 mm, Mandla 54.4 mm, Jabalpur 55.0 in the same period, it stated.