North India reels under intense cold

Intense cold prevailed in northern parts of the country with high-altitude areas in Jammu and Kashmir receiving a fresh bout of snow and those in Himachal Pradesh reeling under arctic conditions.
The minimum temperature in the national capital settled at 5.6 degrees Celsius, two notches below the season's average, with fog reducing visibility in several parts of the city in the early hours.
Though there was a marginal increase in temperatures in Kashmir and the Ladakh divisions due to an overcast sky, the mercury stayed below the freezing point in most areas, including Srinagar.
The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg and other areas in the higher reaches of Kashmir witnessed snowfall last night with reports of precipitation in many areas.

Srinagar - the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir - recorded a low of minus 2 degrees Celsius while the temperature in Gulmarg settled at minus 7 degrees Celsius and Qazigund, in south Kashmir, at 0.4 degrees Celsius.
There was a huge respite for Leh in the Ladakh region, where the mercury rose from minus 13.6 degrees Celsius to minus 6.9 degrees Celsius.

Kargil was the coldest place in the state and recorded minus 19.3 degrees Celsius.
Intense cold wave conditions persisted in most parts of Himachal Pradesh, even as the minimum and maximum temperatures rose marginally.
Kalpa in high-altitude tribal Kinnaur district and Manali recorded a low of minus 1.6 degrees Celsius and minus 0.4 degrees Celsius respectively, the MeT office in Shimla said.

Muzaffarnagar was the coldest place in Uttar Pradesh recording the minimum temperature of 2.8 degrees Celsius with cold wave conditions prevailing in the state, the MeT office in Lucknow said.
Temperatures in Punjab and Haryana hovered around the normal for the second day, providing respite to the people from cold weather.
However, fog reduced visibility at a few places in the morning, causing travel disruptions, a MeT department official in Chandigarh said.