Visakhapatnam: The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday said that Cyclone Fani, which is currently over the southeast Bay of Bengal and the adjoining east equatorial Indian Ocean, is likely to intensify into a "very severe cyclonic storm" on Monday.

Cyclone Fani is centred about 1,260 km south-southeast of Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh, 1,080 km southeast of Chennai and 750 km east-southeast of Trincomalee in Sri Lanka.

The IMD, in its bulletin, said, "It is very likely to intensify into a 'severe cyclonic storm' during the next 12 hours and into a 'very severe cyclonic storm' during the subsequent 24 hours. It is very likely to move north-westwards till April 30 and after that recurve north-eastwards gradually."

Also Read: Cyclone Fani intensifies, moving further north-westwards towards Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu

The Met officials said the cyclone might come 200 to 300 km close to the Andhra coast before changing its course to head towards the coasts of Odisha and Bangladesh.

On April 30 and May 1, under the impact of the cyclone, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are likely to receive heavy rains on April 30 and May 1.

The IMD office has forecasted thunderstorm with heavy rain and gusty winds with the speed of 40-50 kmph at isolated places in all coastal Andhra districts.

The authorities have issued warnings at Visakhapatnam, Machilipatnam, Krishnapatnam and Nizampatnam ports to stay dry and safe.