Incessant, heavy rain swept across the country on Friday, disrupting daily life as major highways were blocked and domestic flights delayed or cancelled.

Due to the relentless downpour, thousands of travellers were stranded on highways and airports, facing delays and travel chaos.

Landslides triggered by prolonged rainfall blocked several highways, including at the busy Nagdhunga entry point to the Kathmandu Valley. Efforts to clear landslide debris were hampered by ceaseless showers.

Scores of domestic flights, including on the Kathmandu-Pokhara, Kathmandu-Bharatpur, Kathmandu-Simara, and Kathmandu-Surkhet routes, were cancelled, according to airline companies. Some international flights were also held up in the sky for a long time due to weather disturbances.

The local administrations have asked travel companies not to operate night bus services on Friday and Saturday to avoid risks.

Several places in Kathmandu Valley, including Bauddha, Kapan, and Banasthali, have been inundated. Police started patrolling to prevent people from going to riverbanks after water levels in various rivers breached the danger mark at various places, including Khokan, Gaurighat, Balkhukhola, and Bishnumati.

A local rivulet at Annapurnachok in ward 15 of Kathmandu Metropolis swept away a man on Friday evening. CCTV footage showed the man driving his motorcycle along a road beside the rivulet’s bank when he suddenly fell in. According to Superintendent of Police Navaraj Adhikari, the victim is 19-year-old motorcyclist Rajan Shrestha, who is originally from Sindhupalchok and was living in Raniban, Kathmandu. Adhikari said they pulled out his motorcycle and the police are searching for the missing man.

Separately, Tthe National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) issued a flood warning for residents living downstream of the Kulekhani Hydropower Project dam in Makawanpur district due to incessant rainfall.

In a notice issued on Friday evening, the authority said the reservoir in Indrasarovar Rural Municipality has seen a significant rise in water level, and which may reach full capacity within hours.

This situation may require the opening of floodgates, potentially causing sudden flooding along the Bagmati river, with heightened risks for communities in Rautahat and Sarlahi districts.

The notice has urged residents in low-lying areas below Kulekhani to exercise extreme caution and remain vigilant. Security personnel and volunteers have also been asked to be on high alert.

The district disaster management committees and local disaster management committees have been asked to prepare safe locations for residents as the threat of flooding looms.

Meanwhile, the Bagmati river crossed the danger level on Friday. The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology said the water levels at monitoring stations in Khokana, Gaurighat, Balkhu Khola, Balambu, and Bishnumati (Gongabu Bus Park) exceeded the alert level and are rising. The department has urged people living or travelling near riverbanks to exercise extreme caution, particularly in Lalitpur, Makawanpur, Sarlahi, and Rautahat districts until Saturday afternoon.

Also, regular activities have been badly hampered in several other districts.

In Panchthar, traffic came to a halt after the Hewa River overflowed a diversion.

Mahendra Raj Jabegu, vice-chairman of Phalelung Rural Municipality, said that continuous rainfall over the past three days has halted vehicular movement between the district headquarters and other parts of the district and neighbouring areas.

In Kavre, the BP Highway was partially blocked due to mudslides at Roshi, restricting traffic to a single lane, with vehicles from both directions passing in turns since 9:45 am on Friday.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Raj Kumar Shrestha said efforts were on to clear the debris, being jointly undertaken by the police, local authorities, and the Department of Roads.

Similarly, heavy rainfall triggered a landslide that has blocked the Bhimphedi-Kulekhani-Fakhel road since Friday morning. The Kanti Highway, linking Hetauda and Kathmandu, has also been closed due to a landslide since Thursday.

In Dang, the road division office has prohibited operation of heavy vehicles on the Kapurkot-Ramri section of the Rapti Highway for three days due to landslides. Engineer Ujjwal Kumar Jha warned that vehicles may face prolonged delays as major festivals—Dashain and Tihar—approach.

Police Inspector Resham Bahadur Khatri said mudslides and boulders have further hindered vehicle movement for the past two days.

The Meteorological Forecasting Division of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology said that several places in Jhapa district witnessed over 200 millimetres of rainfall, which is labelled ‘extremely heavy’.

“Jhapa district recorded 299 mm of rain in the 24 hours until Friday afternoon, and the rainfall continues,” said Shanti Kandel, a meteorologist at the division. “Five to seven places in Jhapa district have recorded over 200 mm of rain.”

Met officials say rainfall above 50 mm is categorised as heavy, above 100 mm as very heavy, and over 200 mm as extremely heavy.

“Most places across the country recorded heavy rainfall on Friday,” said Kandel. “This was true of several districts, including Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Kavrepalanchok.”

The Met Office has forecast heavy isolated rainfall in parts of Bagmati, Gandaki, and Lumbini provinces on Friday night. Light to moderate rainfall is likely in most parts of Bagmati, Gandaki, Lumbini, and Sudurpaschim provinces, while a few places in other provinces could see light to moderate rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms.

On Saturday, light to moderate rain is possible in most parts of Bagmati, Gandaki, and Lumbini provinces, while moderate rainfall with thunderstorms is likely in some places of other provinces. Isolated incidents of very heavy rainfall are also possible in parts of the Gandaki and Lumbini provinces.

Met officials said that rainfall will continue until Sunday.

“Starting Sunday, the weather will start to improve compared to Friday, but that does not mean it will be completely dry,” said Kandel. “Light to moderate rainfall is still possible in parts of Bagmati, Gandaki, and Lumbini provinces, and a few parts of the rest of the provinces may witness light to moderate rain along with thundershowers.”

The department has cautioned the public about the risks of landslides, debris flow, and inundation in urban areas and in the Tarai.

The monsoon generally enters Nepal on June 13. The exit, which was usually on September 23, has been extended to October 2. This year, the clouds from the south entered Nepal from the western region on June 10, three days ahead of the usual onset date. Last year, the weather phenomenon started on June 14, a day after the normal onset day.

The monsoon period, which delivers around 80 percent of the country’s total annual rainfall, generally lasts 105 days. But, in recent years, it has been taking more time to withdraw.

This year, too, monsoon rainfall will be prolonged by at least five days, met officials had earlier predicted.

Nepal has already recorded above-average rainfall this season.

According to Met Office data, the country received 1,586.3 millimetres of rainfall as of Friday morning since the monsoon entered on June 10, 107.2 percent—7.2 percent above the average monsoon rainfall.

Normally, the country gets an average of 1,472 mm of rain in the four months—June, July, August, and September. Last year the country witnessed only 1,303 mm of rainfall in the season, 88.5 percent of the average.

Nepal is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the climate crisis and has witnessed multiple extreme weather events over the past decade and a half.

Evidence suggests that maximum temperatures in Nepal are rising faster, at 0.056 degrees Celsius a year, compared to the annual global average rise of 0.03 degrees Celsius.

Experts say extreme weather events—excess rain in a short period, continuous rains for several days after the monsoon, dry spells, droughts, below-average precipitation, and above-normal winter temperatures—have become more frequent in Nepal.