Western and interior Odisha continued to reel under gruelling heat as the mercury crossed the 40 degrees Celsius mark in most parts of these regions on Monday. While Sonepur was the hottest place with 42 degrees Celsius, temperature went past 40 degrees in Angul (40.3), Sambalpur (40.2), Hirakud (40.1), Talcher (41.5), Bhawanipatna (41.5), Balangir (40.5), Titlagarh (40.5) and Malkangiri (41.2). Temperature in Bhubaneswar, which was 41.7 degree on Sunday, came down to 39.8 on Monday. There was a drastic fall in temperature in Koraput (34.4) and Phulbani (38.6) following a moderate rainfall of 11 mm and 9 mm in the afternoon. The Met office has predicted further rise in the day temperature from April 24 along with rain or thundershowers at some places of the State in the next 24 hours.