Severe cold sweeps across different parts of the country specially northern states with dense fog disrupting traffic in morning by reducing visibility to a few metres only.

In Punjab and Haryana, cold conditions intensified on Sunday with mercury dipping by up to three notches below normal, MET officials said.

Amritsar remained coldest in the region with a minimum of 3.3 degrees Celsius, one notch below normal, weathermen said.

Chandigarh recorded its coldest night of the season at 5.4 deg C, two notches below normal, while in Karnal mercury dipped 3 degrees below normal to settle at 4 deg C, they said.

Besides intense cold, fog in morning disrupted normal life at several places, including Karnal, Patiala, Rohtak, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Hisar, by reducing visibility to a few metres only, officials said.

Among other places, Hisar recorded a low of 4.7 deg C, two places below normal, followed Ludhiana at 4.8 deg C.

Ambala settled at a low of 4.5 deg C, which was two notches below normal, whereas Patiala in Punjab shivered at a 5.9 deg C.

While Bhiwani settled at a low of 6.6 deg C, the minimum temperature of Rohtak was 7.3 deg C, MET department said.

At least 2 persons have died due to cold in Jalandhar district of Punjab in the last 15 days.

The weather department said further dip in temperatures are expected in the region for the next two days with mist and fog at most places in morning.

Mercury dips in Rajasthan

In Rajasthan, night temperatures plummeted with Churu in the plains recording a temperature of 2.9 degree Celsius whereasMount Abu, the sole hill station in the state, settled at minus 3 degree Celsius.

Jaipur, Dabok, Bikaner, Jaisalmer and Ajmer recorded night temperatures of 6.2, 6.9, 7.5, 8.7 and 9.2 degrees respectively while Barmer and Kota recorded 10 and 10.6 degree Celsius.

Sriganganagar recorded night temperature of 4.2 degrees.

According to the MeT department, mercury would further dip in North Rajasthan while cold conditions would remain the same in other parts of the state.

Coldest night in Srinagar

The summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir recorded it coldest night of the season with mercury dipping to minus 5.6 degrees Celsius, with thin layer of ice forming on waterbodies in Srinagar, MET officials said.

Srinagar broke its earlier record of minus 5.2 deg C, noted last week, as mercury dropped 4 notches below normal in the night, they said.
As a result of dip in minimum temperature, a thin layer of ice was formed on the water bodies, including the famous DalLake. Boatmen were seen breaking ice sheet with the paddles while rowing in the lake Sunday morning.

However, Leh in Ladakh was the coldest place in the state with a low of minus 17.2 deg C, followed by Kargil which recorded a minimum of minus 11 deg C.

Famous ski resort Gulmarg, an attraction for tourists visiting the Valley in winter, was the coldest place in Kashmir with a low of minus 7.5 deg C.

Pahalgam hill resort, which serves as the base camp for the annual Amarnath yatra, was the second coldest place in the Valley with thermometer reading to minus 7 deg C in night, the MET department said.

Coldwaves continue in Nashik

Coldwaves continued in the district and its other parts with temperature falling to 6.7 degrees from 7.9 degrees last night forcing people to stay at home.

According to the local observatory, the situation will remain the same for the next few days.

Cold weather has created problems for grape fruit as cracks are seen on them. As a result, grape growers are covering the grape-gardens with clothes.

A comparatively warm Sunday for Delhiites

With no chilly winds and a moderate fog giving way to the sun, a comparatively warm Sunday greeted Delhiites, bringing some relief as maximum temperature had dropped well below the normal level since Friday.

The minimum temperature overnight was recorded at 8.5 degrees Celsius, which is one notch above the normal for this time of the season, and a good 1.5 degrees more than Saturday’s minimum of 7.0 degrees.

However, the maximum temperature was found to be 21.3 degrees Celsius, which is two degrees below the normal level and almost four degrees down Friday’s maximum of 25.2.

The morning hours also saw moderate fog in most parts of the city, and the visibility at the Indira Gandhi International Airport dropped to 300 metres till 7.30 AM, though it later cleared away to make way for the sun.

The temperatures are expected to keep at similar levels on Monday, with weather officials forecasting a maximum and minimum of 22.0 and 7.0 degrees respectively.

The coming day is also expected to commence with mist and shallow fog in the morning, followed by mainly clear sky during the day.

The average minimum temperature in Delhi for the month of December is 8.2 degree C and the maximum is 23 degree C.