Mercury remained at minus 23 deg C for the second consecutive night at Leh in Jammu and Kashmir as the cold wave continued its grip over the northern region and claimed at least eight lives.

Leh town in Ladakh region witnessed the coldest night on Sunday this winter at minus 23.6 deg C.

Kargil town also had an extremely cold night with a minimum temperature of minus 18.2 deg C.

The cold wave also intensified in Gulmarg skiing resort in north Kashmir and Pahalgam health resort in south Kashmir. The two tourist spots recorded a minimum temperature of minus 11.7 deg C and minus 12.4 deg C, respectively.

Qazigund, the gateway town to the Kashmir Valley, was freezing at a low of minus 10.4 deg C, while Kokernag town in Anantnag witnessed a night temperature of minus 9.1 deg C.

The minimum temperature fell by nearly three degrees to settle at a low of minus 5.2 deg C in Srinagar.

Eight more deaths were reported from different parts of Uttar Pradesh as mercury dipped sharply, taking the toll to 32 this winter in the state.

Lucknow recorded a minimum of 3.5 deg C, which was three notches below normal while the maximum temperature was 15.7 deg C, seven notches below normal.

Delhi recorded a minimum temperature overnight of 8.2 deg C which is a degree above normal and only marginally above Sunday’s minimum of 7.8 degrees while the maximum was at 14.7 deg C, up by 0.1 degrees from the previous day.

The hills in Himachal Pradesh had no respite from the biting cold as night temperatures continued to drop there.

Keylong in tribal Lahaul and Spiti district recorded a minimum temperature of minus 14.9 deg C, while Kalpa in adjoining Kinnaur district recorded a low of minus 6.6 deg C.

Shimla recorded a low of 3.7 deg C while Solan, Bhuntar and Sundernagar shivered under sub-zero temperatures of minus 0.5, minus 0.4 and minus 0.2 deg C, respectively.

The high altitude tribal areas reeled under piercing cold wave conditions with minimum temperature staying between minus 14 and minus 22 deg C.

The tribal valleys of Lahaul and Spiti and Pangi Valley were cut off from rest of the state due to heavy snow on high mountain passes and about a dozen persons, including half a dozen tourists were stranded there.

All natural sources of water like lakes, springs, rivulets and the 70 km-stretch of Chandrabhaga river, a tributary of Spiti, were frozen for the past three weeks.

The day-time chill further intensified across Punjab and Haryana even though the minimum temperature settled a few notches above normal.

Fog had lifted from many places in Punjab and Haryana barring places like Ambala and Rohtak.

In Haryana, Ambala registered a low of 7.3 deg C, up two notches while the minimum at Hisar was 5.6 deg C, one above normal.

Narnaul, however, was extremely cold recording a low of 2.6 deg C, down by two degrees.

In Punjab, Ludhiana and Patiala recorded respective lows of 8.9 deg C and 7.6 deg C, both up by two degrees each.

“The North-Westerly winds are keeping the mercury down during the day-time. The cold conditions during the day will continue at least till Wednesday,” a Met official said.

Meanwhile, intense cold conditions paralysed normal life in parts of Rajasthan with Mount Abu recording a low of minus 5.4 deg C, the lowest in the desert state.

On 31st January, 1990, the hill station had recorded a lowest temperature of minus 5.6 degree Celsius, according to Met department.

In plains, Sikar was the coldest place with a low of 1.5 degrees C followed by Aranpura road in Pali at 2.6 deg C.

Icy winds shivered people in other parts and dense fog disrupted movement of vehicles in the morning.