Clouds hovered over the city for most of Saturday and intermittent rain kept the Celsius under check.

The rain was not sharp but made the weather pleasant.

The Met office said the next few days would remain wet since the monsoon trough persisted over the Bay of Bengal. A fresh rain-triggering system was tipped to form over the Bay of Bengal at the end of this month and the wet spell would continue, it said.

“The low-pressure system that had helped the trough descend from the foothills of the Himalayas was still active, situated off the northern Odisha coast on Saturday. Another low-pressure area is expected to form over the northern Bay on July 31,” said a Met official.

After a spell of overnight rain, the city woke up to a cloudy sky. Saturday’s maximum temperature was 32.4°C, normal for this time of the year. The sun was behind the clouds for most of the day.

Calcutta and Howrah got multiple spells of showers throughout the day. But the distribution of rainfall was skewed. Patuli, Santoshpur and adjoining areas had received up to 6mm of rain. Alipore received around 4mm.

The clouds kept gathering since the morning. Around 10.30pm, it started drizzling in some parts. Some parts of Howrah also received rain.

Thick clouds started gathering towards the late evening again. By 4.30pm, the sky above the Eden Gardens was so dark that it looked like evening. Another round of rain came around 8pm. People trying to escape getting wet took shelter at Metro stations and stalls.

“It was refreshing to finally use an umbrella for rain and not the sun,” said Sampurna Seal, who was caught in the rain while returning from office.