Intense cold wave conditions continue in the hills and valleys of Himachal Pradesh but tourists were disappointed as 'White Christmas' eluded Shimla.
People braved freezing cold conditions to reach churches to attend the mid-night mass.
The tribal areas at higher altitude reeled under arctic conditions as mercury stayed between minus 10 and minus 18 degrees Celsius while Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti recorded minimum temperature of minus 10.9 degrees Celsius.
Thick fog engulfed the towns along the river banks in mid and lower hills while thick ground frost made driving risky in mid and higher hills in the morning, while people shivered under cold wave conditions.
Manali and Kalpa recorded minimum temperatures at minus 4.2 degrees Celsius and minus 3.2 degrees Celsius, Una minus 2 degrees Celsius, Bhuntar minus 1.2 degrees Celsius, Hamirpur and Sundernagar minus 0.9 degrees Celsius, Solan minus 0.5 degrees Celsius, Shimla 2.5 degrees Celsius, Dharamsala 4.6 degrees Celsius and Nahan 5.6 degrees Celsius.
The maximum day temperatures remained steady and Unawas hottest with a high of 19.6 degrees Celsius, followed by Solan 18 degrees Celsius, Sundernagar 17.9 degrees Celsius, Bhuntar and Nahan 15.5 degrees Celsius, Shimla 12.3 degrees Celsius, Dharamshala12.2 degrees Celsius, Manali 9.2 degrees Celsius and Kalpa 6.4 degrees Celsius.
The local MeT office has predicted rains or snow in mid and higher hills tomorrow and dry weather in the state from December 27 onwards.
