Shimla, May 25 (IANS): The hills of Himachal Pradesh continued to reel under an intense heat wave on Monday, with temperatures recording two to three degrees above the season's average.

In some areas, the mercury was at 40 degrees Celsius.

"Given the lack of rain, most of the towns were unusually hot," Manmohan Singh, director of the meteorological office, told IANS.

"There are also chances of rain in mid and high hills on Saturday," Singh added.

The heat wave prevailed in Una, Sirmaur, Hamirpur and Bilaspur districts and parts of Mandi district. It would continue till Friday, when a western disturbance would be active in the region.

The weather would largely remain dry in the state till Thursday.

Una town was the hottest in the state with the highest temperature recorded at 40 degrees Celsius.

Shimla was hot too and the town saw a high of 28.4 degrees Celsius -- five degrees above normal.

Sundernagar in Mandi district recorded a high of 36.2 degrees Celsius, while the maximum temperature in Bhuntar in Kullu district stood at 29.5 degrees Celsius.

Similarly, Dharamsala recorded 31.6 degrees Celsius and Kalpa in Kinnaur district experienced 18.6 degrees Celsius.