Relentless monsoon showers continued across Mumbai on Wednesday. (Express Photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the southwest monsoon has reached the entire country by Thursday. This year’s monsoon advance is the most delayed since 2021, when full coverage was reached on July 12.“The southwest monsoon has further advanced into the remaining parts of Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, and the north Arabian Sea on July 9. It covered the entire country on 09th July, one day after the normal date of covering entire India,” the IMD said in a statement.During the past few years, the monsoon advance was realised earlier: 2025 (June 29), 2024 (July 02), 2023 (July 02), and 2022 (July 02).The monsoon season has been largely erratic, with June remaining dry and recording a 40 per cent deficit in all-India rainfall. But since the start of July, the monsoon has remained active and made up for almost all of the previous month’s rain deficits.Also Read | Southwest monsoon hits Kerala, IMD forecasts heavy rainfall until June 7As of July 8, the country has received normal rainfall during the season. Quantitatively, this is 195.5 mm, or 15 per cent, which is considered normal rainfall. Only about 25 per cent of the country’s geographical areas remain rain deficient now.The IMD has forecast widespread heavy rain across the north and some parts of central India, including Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh, for the next two days.