Cold wave has gripped large parts of North India, while dense fog disrupted road and rail traffic at several places.
In Uttar Pradesh, 14 people lost their lives due to cold during the past 24 hours. Agra remained the coldest place where the minimum temperature dipped to 2.5 degree Celsius. Dense fog has affected road and rail traffic in the state. More from our correspondent.

Most parts of Uttarakhand are reeling under dry cold conditions particularly the hill areas of the state. More from our correspondent:

In Jharkhand, cold wave has claimed 12 more lives during the past 24 hours taking the total toll this season to 25. Minimum temperature has dipped to 2.5 degree Celsius in the state capital Ranchi.

In Bihar, all schools have been closed till further orders due to intense cold wave sweeping the state. MET department has predicted that the cold wave conditions will prevail in the state for new few days.

Cold wave tightened its grip in Punjab and Haryana with mercury dipping up to five degrees Celsius below normal at many places. Ambala turned out to be the coldest place in the region with the minimum temperature settling at 2.3 deg C, down by five notches.

In Rajasthan, mercury dipped further at many places with Churu recording a minimum of one degree Celsius.

In Jammu and Kashmir, the cold intensified with the minimum temperature in capital Srinagar plunging to minus 4.3 degrees Celsius. In the remote Leh district in Ladakh region, mercury plummeted to a low of minus 14 deg C.

A moderate cold wave is sweeping north and western districts of West Bengal with Kolkata feeling the pinch as mercury slid to 12.2 degrees Celsius, the lowest this season.

Even as several parts of north India are in the grip of biting cold, the southern state of Kerala is experiencing pleasant weather and bright sunny days. While the capital Thiruvananthapuram recorded minimum temperature of 23 degree Celsius yesterday it was 20 degree Celsius in Kochi.