Cold claims four lives in North India

In capital Delhi, the maximum temperature was recorded at 18.3 degrees Celsius, two less than normal and the minimum temperature was 7.8 degrees celsius.

The Kashmir Valley is witnessing unusually sunny weather for this time of the year, but the night temperature continues to hover several degrees below freezing point.

The minimum temperature recorded in Srinagar was minus 2.9 degrees Celsius compared to yesterday's minus 1.8 degrees Celsius. The summer capital recorded the season's low of minus 4 on Sunday.

The MET spokesman said Kargil in frontier region of Ladakh was the coldest place in the state with a low of minus 15.4 degrees Celsius.

The nearby town of Leh, also in the cold desert of Ladakh, was freezing at a low of minus 13.8 degrees Celsius, the spokesman said.

He said Gulmarg recorded a minimum of minus 7 degrees Celsius followed by Pahalgam (minus 6.8), Kupwara (minus 3.7), Qazigund (minus 3.2) and Kokernag (minus 2.1).

One person succumbed to severe cold wave conditions in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab.

Opinder Bedi, a resident of Jharkhand, died due to severe cold at Tanda yesterday.

In Uttar Pradesh, three persons died in the past 24 hours taking the toll this season to 21.

One death each was reported in Lalitpur, Gorakhpur and Muzaffar Nagar, official sources said here today.

Lowest temperature in the state was 3.2 degree Celsius recorded at Fatehgarh. MORE