Several parts of north India was covered by dense fog today and mercury plummeted in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi while a man was suspected to have died of cold in Haryana.<br/>'<br/>It was a chilly day in the national capital where minimum temperature settled at 7.3 degrees Celsius, a notch below the season's average making it the coldest of the season so far.A Meteorological Department official said the maximum temperature was recorded at 19.5 degrees Celsius, four notches below the normal.Shallow fog at several places also dropped visibility during the morning hours. <br/><br/>Light rains at isolated places in western parts of Uttar Pradesh and fog in certain parts of the state pushed down minimum temperatures in several divisions of the state.<br/><br/>Severe cold conditions also gripped Punjab, with Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala recording below normal maximum temperature. Bathinda today was the coldest place in Punjab recording a minimum temperature of 3.8 degrees Celsius.<br/>'<br/>In Haryana,Hisar was the coldest with a low of 4.9 degrees. An unidentified person, whom police believe was a beggar,was suspected to have died due to severe cold in Ambala City.<br/> <br/>In Rajasthan, the minimum temperature dropped by 1 to 4 degrees Celsius at most places in the state due to a change in the pattern of cold winds from Jammu and Kashmir.<br/><br/>In Himachal Pradesh, the hills and valleys groaned under freezing cold conditions as night temperature dropped further in spite of dry weather. Partial overcast condition was witnessed with high velocity winds sweeping the region.The Rohtang Pass, Dhundi, Patseo, Mari, Koksar and Keylong were cut off from rest of the state due to heavy snow.<br/><br/>The cold spell has hit all natural sources of water like lakes, springs, rivulets and tributaries of snow-fed rivers in the state which have frozen, reducing the discharge of water in major rivers on which hydro-power projects had been installed.