The onset of monsoon over Kerala [Images] is delayed by a week, the latest forecast by Indian Meteorological Department on Wednesday said.

The new statistical model, with six predictors to forecast the monsoon onset over Kerala, suggests that it would hit the Indian shore on June 7 as against the earlier June 1, a release from the department said.

The indigenously developed model has a forecast error of (+, -) three days, it said.

In spite of the expected delay, the seasonal rainfall over the country as a whole is expected to be near normal, it said.

Earlier, the department had issued a long range forecast saying the monsoon will be near normal with seasonal rainfall as 98 per cent of the normal.

There was no direct relation between monsoon onset over Kerala and subsequent performance of southwest monsoon during the season, it said.

Generally the monsoon hits the Indian mainland by June 1.