New Delhi, May 29 (IANS): Heavy rains lashed the national capital and neighbouring areas on Friday evening, bringing much-needed respite to the people reeling under intense heat.

The relief came after the heatwave intensified in the city between May 24 and May 27 with the mercury touching new highs. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that the current weather condition will sustain over the Delhi-NCR region till June 1.

Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of IMD's Regional Weather Forecasting Centre, said that the weather condition is due to the western disturbance affecting northwest India and easterly winds from Uttar Pradesh.

The western disturbance is a cyclonic storm that originates in the Mediterranean Sea and travels across Central Asia. When it comes in contact with the Himalayas, it brings rains to the hills and the plains.

The IMD had predicted light rain, lightning and squally winds gusting to 50-60 km per hour with isolated hailstorms for Friday evening.

The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research said that the rainfall has contributed to the improvement of air quality. The Air Quality Index (AQI) stood in the "satisfactory" category at 112 microgram per cubic metre.

"Delhi's AQI is likely to improve further to the lower end of moderate to the satisfactory category in the next two days. The wind direction is not favourable for any significant dust transport to Delhi," it added.

The maximum temperature on Friday was recorded at 40.4 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperature was docked at 22.6 degrees Celsius. Humidity levels oscillated between 34 per cent and 62 per cent.