Monsoon activity over north-west India is expected to gather pace after July 18, with the weather department predicting fairly widespread rains over Punjab and Haryana along with the possibility of heavy rains at isolated places in these states.Light to moderate rain is likely at isolated places from till July 17, at a few places on July 18 and at many places thereafter in the two states, according to a bulletin issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on July 14.Heavy rain is likely at isolated places on July 19 and 20. Hot and humid conditions are also expected to prevail over the southern parts of Punjab and Haryana till July 16.Over the past 24 hours, light to moderate rains were experienced at isolated places in these states, with the IMD terming the monsoon activity over the region as “weak”. Gurdaspur, Ferozepur, Hoshiarpur, Ropar and Nawanshahar districts in Punjab and Ambala, Fatehabad, Hisar, Jind, Nuh, Rohtak, Sirsa and Sonepat districts in Haryana received varying amounts of rain.In the month of July so far, Haryana has received 64.8 mm rainfall against the long period average (LPA) of 63.6 mm, marking a surplus of 2 per cent. During this period Punjab received 59.4 mm against the LPA of 68.8 mm, accounting for a deficit of 14 per cent. The seasonal rain since June 1 has been below the LPA by 20 per cent in Haryana and 28 per cent in Punjab.The monsoon, which covered the entire region on July 9 after a delay of a few days, has so far been in surplus in 12 districts of Haryana and nine districts of Punjab, but below the LPA in 10 districts of Haryana and 13 districts of Punjab.During the past 24 hours, day temperatures were above normal in Haryana but near normal in Punjab, whereas night temperatures were near normal in Haryana and normal in Punjab.The highest maximum temperature recorded in Haryana was 40.1°C in Rohtak and the lowest minimum was 24.2°C in Hisar. In Punjab, the highest maximum temperature was 39.6°C in Bathinda and the lowest minimum temperature 25.0°C in Gurdaspur.The IMD has also predicted isolated to scattered rain over Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh till July 17 and over Himachal Pradesh till July 16, followed by fairly widespread rain over these areas till July 20. Isolated thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds with speeds reaching 60 kmph are also expected.