Pre-monsoon showers brought much needed relief to residents of Delhi, Uttarkhand and Rajasthan, reeling under heat wave conditions and delayed monsoon, while nine persons were killed by lightning in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh which experienced heavy rains in some areas.

In the national capital, the city-dwellers, facing sweltering heat with maximum temperature hovering around 44 degrees and massive power cuts coupled with water shortage, came out of their houses to enjoy the rains which brought down the mercury by almost 10 degrees.

In Uttar Pradesh, two persons were killed in Ballia due to lightning as light to moderate rainfall was experienced in many parts including capital Lucknow, where the maximum temperature was 35.6 degree Celsius, two notches below normal.

While Gorkahpur witnessed 6 mm rainfall, Bahraich and Sultanpur had 2 and 1.6 mm rainfall respectively, they said.

Ending a long dry spell in Bihar, where the monsoon was due for June 11, moderate to heavy showers occurred in several areas including Patna, which received 12mm rainfall.

Seven persons, including five children were killed and six others critically injured, when they were struck by lightning in Bihar's Siwan and Patna districts.

The Meteorological Department, however, said the showers were not monsoon rains. The Southwest Monsoon, which is running behind schedule, is likely to advance to more areas of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa and West Bengal & Sikkim as well as some parts of Bihar, Jharkhand and East Uttar Pradesh during next two three days.