Northern India shivers in cold

Northern India reeled under severe cold conditions today even as a thick blanket of fog affected the movement of road and rail traffic in the region.
The mercury in the plains of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and the national capital dipped over the last few days due to rain and snowfall in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir.
Delhi had a foggy and cold start to the day.
The minimum temperature in the capital dipped to chilly 8 degrees Celsius in the morning. A sunny afternoon pushed the mercury to 19 degrees Celsius.
Churu in Rajasthan quivered at 1.8 degrees Celsius, the meteorological department said.

Pilani and Sriganganagar recorded minimum temperatures of of 2.4 and 3.9 degrees Celsius respectively, while the night temperature at Bikaner, Sikar, Vanasthali, Barmer, Jodhpur, Jaipur and Kota was 5.2, 5.5, 7.6, 9.1, 9.8, 10.7 and 12.2 degrees Celsius respectively, according to a MeT report.

A dense to very dense fog was also witnessed at a few places in the northern parts of the desert state, which affected vehicular traffic, the report said.
Cold conditions prevailed in Punjab and Haryana with a thick blanket of fog affecting the movement of air, rail and road traffic in the region.
Chandigarh recorded a minimum of 7.6 degrees Celsius.

Bathinda was the coldest place in the region, recording a low of 3.2 degrees Celsius. Ludhiana and Amritsar had a low of 4.1 degrees Celsius each and Adampur 4.7 degrees Celsius.
The Kargil town in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir experienced the coldest night of the season last night as the minimum temperature at most places across the division went down owing to a dry weather.
The town recorded a low of minus 11.2 degrees Celsius, a MeT official said, adding that it was the lowest recorded night temperature of the season so far in the state.
Leh recorded a minimum of minus 9.6 degrees Celsius.

Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 1.1 degrees Celsius.
The mercury settled at a low of minus 2.8 degrees Celsius at Qazigund in south Kashmir, while Kokernag town recorded a minimum temperature of minus 3.2 degrees Celsius.
The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 8.4 degrees Celsius last night. It was the coldest recorded place in the Valley.
The MeT office has forecast a mainly dry weather in the state over the next few days.