COLOMBO, Nov. 2 -- Cyclone Murasu, over the west-central Bay of Bengal and adjoining sea areas, has intensified into a severe cyclonic storm, prompting the Department of Meteorology to issue a Red advisory for fishing and naval communities.

In an advisory issued on Monday (2), the Department said the cyclone was centred about 480 kilometres northeast of Kankesanthurai at 11.30 p.m. and was expected to move northwestwards before making landfall along the southern coast of Andhra Pradesh, India, between midnight on Monday and the early hours of Tuesday (3).

The Department said the system posed no direct threat to Sri Lanka. However, its intensification was expected to bring very strong winds and rough seas to the affected maritime areas....