Cold wave conditions persisted in northern India on Tuesday, with fresh snowfall in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir leading to the closure of several mountainous roads.
Sub-zero temperatures were recorded at major tourist destinations like Kufri, Manali and Dalhousie in Himachal Pradesh, which also received light rains.
Over 1,500 vehicles, mostly Kashmir-bound trucks, are stranded in Ramban-Banihal sector due to suspension of traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway after fresh snowfall and heavy rains since the early hours.
However in New Delhi, the mercury rose due to a cloud cover on Tuesday, even though weather experts said wind direction will change and cold northwesterly winds will start blowing in from the hills on Wednesday, which will lead to a dip in the temperatures.
The city recorded a low of 9.2 degrees Celsius, which was two notches more than normal.
According to the weatherman, the minimum temperature is likely to drop to 6 degrees Celsius in the next two to three days.
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A fresh western disturbance January 28 onwards is expected to trigger "fairly widespread" rainfall in the entire northwest India and "good" snowfall in the hills, the weather experts said.
At 4.7 degrees Celsius, Vanasthali was the coldest recorded place in Rajasthan.
Alwar, Churu and Pilani recorded minimum temperatures of 6, 6.2, 7.9 degrees Celsius respectively, while Dabok and Sikar registered a low of 8 degrees Celsius.
The weather would remain the same in the state with a possibility of partly clouds during the next 24 hours.
In Himachal Pradesh, Keylong was the coldest recorded place with a minimum temperature of minus 10.2 degrees Celsius, the Shimla MeT Department said.
Kothi received 20 cm of snowfall, Khadrala 15 cm, Sarahan 13 cm, Manali 10 cm, Kufri and Kumarsen 5 cm each, Bharmour and Kalpa 4 cm each and Theog 3 cm, the MeT centre's director Manmohan Singh said.
Kalpa recorded a low of minus 7.4 degrees Celsius, followed by Kufri (minus 3.4 degrees Celsius), Dalhousie (minus 2.3 degrees Celsius) and Manali (minus 1.6 degrees Celsius).
About eight inches of fresh snowfall accumulated on the ground on both sides of the Jawahar Tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir, leaving the road slippery, while rains triggered intermittent shooting of stones at various places between Panthiyal and Ramsu in Ramban district.
The weatherman had predicted a spell of fresh snowfall in Kashmir, upper reaches of Jammu and isolated places of Kargil district in the Union Territory of Ladakh for two days beginning Tuesday.
The highway town of Banihal in Ramban and Bhaderwah in Doda district received 6.5 cm of snowfall till 8.30 am followed by 5.3 cm in Batote, also in Ramban along the highway, which was also the coldest recorded place in Jammu region with a minimum of minus 2.1 degrees Celsius, an official of the MET department said.
He said Jammu city recorded a low of 8.2 degrees Celsius, up from the previous night's 7.6 degrees Celsius.
Katra, the base camp for pilgrims visiting Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi district, recorded a minimum of 6.2 degrees Celsius, the spokesman said.
In Punjab, there was no let-up in cold weather conditions despite a marginal increase in minimum temperatures over the last two days.
Amritsar (7.5 deg C), Bathinda (7.3 deg C), Faridkot (8.8 deg C), Patiala (8.4 deg C), Adampur (8.7 deg C) and Gurdaspur (7.1 deg C) experienced a cold night.
Dense fog enveloped Haryana's Ambala, Hisar, Karnal and Sirsa on Tuesday morning.
The weather was mainly dry in Uttar Pradesh and dense fog occurred at a few places in the state.
According to the MeT Department, cold wave conditions occurred at isolated places over the state.
The weather is most likely to remain dry and shallow to moderate fog is very likely at isolated places over the state on January 22, 23 and 24, it added.