At least eight people have died as torrential rains over the past few days in several states of northern India have thrown normal life out of gear.

In Uttar Pradesh, eight persons were killed and over a dozen injured in different incidents of house collapses and lightning.

While three persons were killed and one was injured as a wall collapsed in Chitrakoot town, two persons were killed and four injured in a similar incident in Varanasi.

In another house collapse in Barabanki, a child was killed.

An old man died of cold in Fatehpur while a man was killed after being struck by lightning in Barabanki.

As wind-swept rains lashed several parts of the state, road traffic and communication networks went haywire. It was breezy and chilly in New Delhi as the capital experienced light showers and an overcast sky throughout the day.

The minimum temperature was 13.2 degrees celsius, four degrees below normal.

Delhi saw heavy rainfall on Saturday night, accompanied by thunder, lightning and strong winds.

The weatherman has forecast that the wet spell will continue for the next three days.

Heavy rain accompanied by thunder squalls lashed Punjab and Haryana for the second consecutive day on Sunday, uprooting trees, snapping telecommunication lines and crippling normal life.