Cold wave tightened its grip across parts of north and west India with most of Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir Valley receiving snowfall and rain. <br/><br/>In Himachal Pradesh, mercury dropped by few notches and tribal and high altitude areas froze under sub-zero temperatures. The region received widespread rain since yesterday and snowfall occurred at isolated places and key tourist resort of Manali.<br/><br/>In Jammu & Kashmir, the latest spell of snowfall in Srinagar and other areas has affected the normal activities across Kashmir Valley. The Srinagar Jammu national highway shall remain closed for the 3rd consecutive day today. State Meteorological Department has forecast light rain and snowfall at most places in Kashmir Valley and several other areas across the State till today evening. Kashmir University has suspended class work in all teaching departments and campuses for ten days till 29th January. Our correspondent reports that all University examinations scheduled to be held today and tomorrow have also been postponed.<br/><br/>National Capital Delhi continues to reel under the cold wave conditions with mercury plunging to new levels. The day temperature yesterday plunged to a two-year low. The maximum temperature was recorded 15.7 degrees Celsius which more than 4 degrees Celsius below normal. According to Met Department, the chill in northwest India is being caused by a cold air outbreak from the north, in the aftermath of a western disturbance passing through the region. The spell is likely to last another two-three days. Five trains are arriving late, eight are rescheduled and one was cancelled due to foggy weather conditions. Two international and nine domestic flights were delayed due to fog. <br/><br/>Intense cold conditions also continue in Rajasthan. Ground frost occurred at isolated places over south Punjab, south Haryana and north Rajasthan. Dense and very dense fog occurred over west Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Punjab. Cold conditions continued in Odisha affecting normal life in many parts of the state, with Phulbani in Kandhamal district registering the lowest temperature at 6.8 degrees Celsius.

Severe cold wave conditions continue in several parts of North India.<br/>Fresh snowfall in higher hills, and rain in lower hills of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have disrupted normal life. In Jammu and Kashmir, fresh snowfall led to the closure of Jammu-Srinagar national highway. There was around two feet snow near Jawahar tunnel and other areas along the highway. <br/><br/>The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir received around two feet of snow. Air traffic at Srinagar International Airport was also affected. The Met Office has forecast widespread snowfall or rain during the next two days. In Himachal Pradesh, the entire tribal belt of Lahaul and Spitti, Kinnaur, Pangi and Bharmaur and upper areas of Shimla, Kullu and Sirmaur remained cut-off from rest of the state due to snowfall. <br/><br/>Vehicular traffic to upper Shimla region has been suspended and efforts are on to open the Hindustan-Tibet highway upto Theog. Temperatures in Shimla dropped below the freezing point as a white blanket of snow covered the state capital and its surrounding areas.<br/>'<br/>In Uttarakhand, temperatures have touched freezing point in far-flung and remote areas of Uttarkashi, Chamoli and Pithoragarh districts. The MeT Office has predicted more snowfall in higher reaches and rain in other areas.<br/>Delhiites woke up to a cold and windy morning today. The MeT department said, the minimum temperature in the national capital settled at 6 degrees Celsius, one notch below the season's average. Although train traffic remained affected, flight operations at the Indira Gandhi International Airport were normal as there was no dense fog.<br/>'<br/>The weatherman has predicted clear skies throughout the day, with the maximum temperature expected to hover around 18 degrees. In Punjab and Haryana, a thick blanket of fog disrupted normal life at most places today. The minimum temperature, however, hovered above normal. <br/><br/>A MeT Department official said, fog reduced visibility at several places including Bathinda, Gurdaspur, Faridkot and Amritsar in Punjab and at Ambala, Panchkula and Karnal in Haryana. Visibility level was also low in Chandigarh – the common capital of the two states.