Cold conditions prevailed in several parts of North India even as fog hampered normal life in some areas, claiming 13 lives in Uttar Pradesh.
However, it was a pleasant day in the national capital with the mercury settling at 22.6 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season's normal. The minimum temperature settled at 7.7 degrees Celsius, a notch above normal.
Early morning hours were marked by moderate fog in many parts of the city with visibility being 800 meters at 5.30 AM which reduced to 700 meters at 8.30 AM, a MeT official said.
The weatherman has predicted shallow to moderate fog in some areas across Delhi.
In UP, 12 people died when a tourist bus ferrying some foreigners collided with a jeep carrying devotees from Ikauna area of Shrawasti on Balrampur-Tulsipur Highway, amid heavy fog.
All the foreigners who were travelling in the bus are safe, police said.
In separate incidents, one person was killed and 10 others were injured due to dense fog in Jaunpur district.
The weather was dry as shallow to moderate fog occurred at a few places over the state with dense fog at isolated places.
According to the MeT office, temperature changed little over the all divisions over the state.
The lowest minimum temperature of 2.8 Celsius degrees was recorded at Muzaffarnagar.
It was appreciably above normal in Jhansi division, above normal in Allahabad division, below normal in Moradabad, Meerut divisions and was normal in the remaining divisions.
The MeT report has forecast a dry weather with shallow to moderate fog at a few places in the state.
People in Punjab and Haryana experienced biting cold conditions as minimum temperatures settled well below the normal limits.
The cold wave intensified in Kashmir as the mercury dropped at most places after a day of respite. The MeT office has predicted the possibility of light snowfall in the plains of the Valley on January 4 and 5, while the higher reaches would receive moderate snowfall.
In Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, the mercury settled at a low of minus 3.8 degrees Celsius against yesterday's minus 0.7 degrees Celsius, weather reports said.
Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir, recorded a minimum of minus 2.6 degrees Celsius against minus 2.4 degrees Celsius the previous night.
Pahalgam hill resort in south Kashmir, which serves as a base camp during the annual Amarnath Yatra, recorded a low of minus 5.3 degrees Celsius, a decrease of over nearly three degrees from yesterday's minus 2.4 degrees Celsius.
The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir, registered a low of minus 5.8 degrees Celsius, Kupwara town in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 3 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperature in southern Kokernag resort settled at minus 2.3 degrees Celsius.
The mercury in Leh, in the frontier Ladakh region, went up by over four degrees as it recorded the low of minus 9.2 degrees Celsius against the previous night's minus 13.3 degrees Celsius, the MeT official said.
Kargil town registered a minimum of minus 10 degrees Celsius as compared to the yesterday's low of minus 15 degrees Celsius, the official said.
The prolonged dry spell during the winter has resulted in
increase in common ailments like cough, cold and respiratory problems particularly among children and elderly.
In Rajasthan, Sikar was the coldest place recording a minimum temperature of 5.8 degrees Celsius followed by Sriganganagar at 6.4 degrees Celsius.
Churu recorded a low of 8.1 while Pilani, Jaipur, Chittorgarh and Jaisalmer recorded minimum of 9.1, 10, 10.7 and 11.2 degrees Celsius respectively.
The night temperature in other areas was also above 12 degrees Celsius, according to MeT office here.
A spokesperson of North Western Railway said due to foggy conditions, ten trains of NWR were running late up to seven hours.
Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana states, had a cold night at 5.8 degrees Celsius, a MeT department report said here.
In Punjab, Amritsar was the coldest place at 3.2degrees Celsius while Ludhiana and Patiala also reeled under biting chill recording below normal minimums of 4.3 degrees Celsius and 5 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Karnal turned out to be the coldest place in Haryana, recording a low of 3 degrees Celsius, down four notches than normal level.
Narnaul recorded a low of 5 degrees Celsius while Hisar experienced a cold night at 3.9 degrees Celsius, down two notches than normal.
Ambala registered a minimum temperature of 6.2 degrees Celsius.
