The Department of Meteorology announces that the low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal near the North Andaman Islands developed into a depression and will intensify further into a severe cyclonic storm over the coming days.The weather system was centred near 15.5 degrees north latitude and 91.0 degrees east longitude at 11:30 last night. It moves across the east-central and adjoining southeastern Bay of Bengal today while developing into a deep depression.Continuing on a west-northwestward path, the system is expected to transform into a cyclone by the morning of October 26 and reach severe cyclonic strength over the west-central Bay of Bengal by the morning of October 27.Although the system causes no direct impact on Sri Lanka, strong wind streams moving toward the depression trigger increased rainfall across southwestern regions of the island during the next few days.Intermittent showers or thundershowers occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, North-Western, and Northern provinces, alongside the Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, and Anuradhapura districts. Certain locations experience heavy rainfall exceeding 100 millimetres. Meanwhile, the Uva province, Ampara, and Batticaloa districts witness isolated afternoon showers or thundershowers after 1:00 p.m.The department also warns of strong intermittent winds reaching 40 to 50 kilometres per hour across the western slopes of the central hills, the Northern, North-Central, and North-Western provinces, and the Trincomalee, Hambantota, and Matale districts.