An overcast sky over Patna on Sunday morning. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

For a change, the city swapped its weather with London on Sunday.

Drizzle greeted residents to the south of the Ganga while London Marathon runners had a sunny start to the south of the Thames on Sunday.

The unusual April weather came as a sweet surprise to people of both the cities, especially the state capital, which recorded 26 degrees Celsius — 13 notches below normal — as its maximum temperature on Sunday. The breather from the scorching heat — Patna witnesses around 38-39 degrees Celsius this time of the year — would stay for the next couple of days, assures the Met department.

The wet weekend forecast turned true with dense clouds hovering over the city on Friday. Throughout the Saturday, the overcast condition continued with rain lashing the city later in the night. Many citizens had to give their Sunday jogging and yoga a miss as the drizzle was still on, accompanied by a cool breeze — something Londoners are accustomed to. “I was planning to go to the water park on Sunday with my family members. However, the morning drizzle upset my plans,” said Satbir Singh, a resident of Boring Road. But a non-vegetarian fare indoors to mark the end of the 10-day Chaiti Navratra, must have made up for his disappointment.

The Met office forecast that the maximum temperature would return to its normal levels by Thursday. “The day temperature is expected to rise by 3 to 4 degrees Celsius by Monday and gradually reach its normal level of 38-39 degrees Celsius by Thursday. Minimum temperature, on the other hand, is expected to reach its normal of 23 degrees Celsius by Tuesday,” said Ashish Sen, the India Meteorological Department, Patna, director.

The Sunday weather had its effect on cinema halls, too. “The footfall was down by at least 50 per cent by Sunday standards,” said Abhishek Ranjan, the Cinepolis unit manager.

The Met office also forecast generally cloudy skies with possibility of rain and thundershowers over the next 48 hours. “Though the trough line between east Uttar Pradesh and Bangladesh, passing through Bihar, Jharkhand and Bengal, is still active its associated cyclonic circulation has weakened. Thus, the prevailing overcast and rainy weather is expected to completely stabilise by Monday afternoon. However, the high level of moisture in the atmosphere may cause low thunderstorm activities over the next two days,” said Sen, adding that the humidity percentage is quite high at present.

The highest level of humidity on Sunday was 95 per cent and the lowest stood a little over 60 per cent. Sen claimed that it is expected to come down to its normal of below 50 per cent by Wednesday.