The entire North India continued to remain in the grip of severe cold wave. In Uttar Pradesh it claimed seven more lives taking the toll this winter to 69. Two people lost their lives in Barabanki, one each in Gonda, Deoria, Ballia, Banda, and Hamirpur districts.
According to Met office, maximum temperature continued to be below normal by 6 to 11 degrees Celsius in parts of the state. The lowest minimum temperature in the state was 0.7 degree Celsius at Lucknow airport.
The entire Kashmir Valley is reeling under severe cold wave following fresh snow fall that continued till last evening. AIR Srinagar correspondent reports that snowfall has been substantial in higher reaches and mild in the planes.
Cold and foggy conditions returned in most parts of Punjab and Haryana this morning after two days of clear, sunny weather in the region. A Met department official said Ambala, Hisar and Karnal in Haryana and Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala in Punjab had a moderate to thick blanket of fog, which affected road traffic and rail and air services in the region.
It was a chilly morning in the national capital with a shallow fog enveloping the city. The minimum temperature settled at 7.7 degrees Celsius, average for this time of the season. The maximum temperature yesterday settled at 21.4 degree Celsius, one notch above normal. Meanwhile, the thick fog cover in north India has also thrown train schedules out of gear. According to Northern Railway spokesperson Neeraj Sharma, over 29 trains are running behind schedule and seven have been cancelled.
Biting cold wave conditions persisted in most parts of Himachal as night temperatures dropped by one to three degrees even as maximum temperature rose marginally due to cloudy weather. Keylong in tribal Lahaul and Spiti district and Kalpa in adjoining tribal district of Kinnaur recorded minimum temperatures at minus 7.6 degree and minus 3.8 degrees respectively. The key tourist resort of Manali reeled under severe cold with mercury dipping to minus 1.5 degree celsius and Solan, Bhuntar and Sundernagar recording a low of 0.2 degree, 1.0 degree and 1.7 degree, three degree below normal.