Light to moderate rain and a hailstorm with winds gusting up to 50 kilometers per hour is predicted to lash northwest India, including Delhi, next week, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday. The IMD said an active Western Disturbance is very likely to affect northwest India from January 21 to January 25.

"Under its influence, rainfall/snowfall is likely to commence over the western Himalayan region in the early hours of January 21 and continue till January 25 with peak activity on January 23-24," it said in a statement.

The Met office said a light to moderate hailstorm is likely at isolated places over Jammu, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, west Uttar Pradesh and north Rajasthan on January 23 and 24. Winds gusting up to 50 kilometres per hour are very likely to prevail over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and west Uttar Pradesh occasionally on January 23-24, it said.

Delhi has not recorded any rainfall this winter season so far. The Met department attributes it to the lack of strong western disturbances in November and December.

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