LUCKNOW, Jan. 24 -- In a sudden change in weather, more than 20 districts in Uttar Pradesh woke up to heavy rain on Friday morning, while hailstorms were also reported in parts of western UP, including Meerut, where hailstones of the size of peas battered fields and flattened standing crops. In a separate incident in Meerut, lightning struck a religious structure, triggering an intense fire that took firefighters 45 minutes to control. Noida and Ghaziabad experienced steady drizzle accompanied by strong winds since late on Thursday night. The adverse weather kept people indoors, leaving roads largely deserted. On Friday morning, thunderstorms were also reported in Ghaziabad and Saharanpur, and gusty winds with a speed of 39 km/h were recorded at Hindon (Ghaziabad). The India meteorological department has issued a hailstorm alert for 18 districts and warned of possible thunderstorms and gusty winds in isolated areas. In contrast, eastern parts of the state recorded clear skies. Cities, including capital Lucknow and Kanpur, woke up to bright sunshine on Friday morning. Senior Met scientist Mohammad Danish said, "The change in weather conditions is due to the western disturbance which will persist till Saturday morning and is likely to cause rain in western and central part of UP. Another western disturbance is likely to approach the state by January 26 which can cause rain in central and western parts of the state on January 27 and 28." Atul Kumar Singh, another senior weather scientist, said due to the favourable geophysical conditions created by the active western disturbance meeting with a well-marked low-pressure area, the scattered rainfall that started in western UP on Thursday night led to a significant increase in the minimum temperature by up to 8degC....