Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's flight is among at least 11 flights that were diverted from the Delhi airport on Friday evening after heavy rain and thunderstorm with gusty winds in the national capital and surrounding areas, according to news agency ANI.

Some of the flights were diverted to Lucknow and Jaipur.

"Due to bad weather, flight operations at Delhi Airport are affected. Passengers are requested to get in touch with the airline concerned for updated flight information," Delhi Airport posted on its official Twitter handle.

At the same time the rain provided relief from the scorching heat to residents in the national capital.

The maximum temperature had risen to 43.6 degrees on Thursday, three degrees above normal, at Safdarjung, the city's base weather station.

The weather department has predicted thunderstorms with gusty winds on Saturday. Partly cloudy sky and rains are likely to usher in a spell of cooler weather for the next three or four days.

A cyclonic circulation persisting over Punjab and Haryana will lead to intermittent thundershowers on Saturday.