Shimla, June 17 (IANS): Himachal Pradesh continued to experience hot weather on Wednesday with the day temperature crossing the 40-degree-mark in low hills, the weather office said.

Una town was hottest in the state with a high of 40.4 degrees Celsius.

"Temperatures remained on the higher side in the state due to lack of rainfall," an official of the meteorological office told IANS.

He said the maximum temperature in the state increased by five to six degrees in the past 24 hours, while the minimum showed a one-to-two-degree rise.

Sunder Nagar in Mandi district recorded a maximum temperature of 36.3 degrees Celsius while Dharamsala, the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile, was 31.2 degrees and Kalpa 25 degrees.

State capital Shimla was hot at 27.5 degrees, three notches above the season's average, while the night temperature was 16.2 degrees. On Tuesday, the day temperature in Shimla was 26.3 degrees.

The Met department said the weather would largely remain dry till Saturday and there are chances of rain on Sunday and thereon.