With cyclonic storm Ditwah advancing towards the north Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coasts, authorities have intensified preparedness measures as the weather system continues to move across coastal Sri Lanka and the adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal, prompting an orange alert in the region.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), cyclone Ditwah moved north-northwestwards at a speed of seven kmph over the past six hours and, as of 23:30 hrs IST on Friday, was centred near latitude 8.8degN and longitude 80.8degE. The storm lay about 60 km west-northwest of Trincomalee, 160 km northwest of Batticaloa, 260 km south-southeast of Karaikal, 370 km south-southeast of Puducherry and nearly 470 km south of Chennai.