Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand had a 'White Christmas' today as they received the season's first snowfall which coupled with rain pulled down the mercury in northern region, including Delhi, even as dense fog led to accidents in Uttar Pradesh which claimed at least seven lives.
The dry spell of weather continued in Jammu and Kashmir with most of the state reeling under sub-zero temperatures, while rains in Haryana and Punjab brought down the mercury in the region.
In HP, Shimla and its surrounding areas received slight traces of snowfall before showers lashed the region, whilethe adjoining tourist resorts of Kufri, Fagu and Narkanda had light snowing.
This is the first time after 25 years, that Himachal received snowfall on Christmas day, officials said.
Kalpa in Kinaur district received7 cm of snow while Kufri and Narkanda had2 cm and 5 cm of snow, respectively. Shimla had 1 cm rains, while Solan, Kangra and Dharamsala received 6 mm, 2 mm and5 mm of rains, respectively.
The sky remained heavily overcast with high velocity chilly winds sweeping the region, causing drop in mercury.
Uttarakhand's hills received the season's first snowfall on Christmas while the lower areas were lashed by moderate showers causing a sharp dip in temperatures across the state.
Places located above 3,000 metres in state's Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Uttarkashi districts including thefour Himalayan shrines of Badrinath andKedarnath received the season's first snowfall even as the plains including Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and adjoining areas were swept by icy winds and light drizzle.
Yamunotri, Gangotri, Harkidoon, Radi and Baukh Dibba were also lashed by heavy snowfall, their first spell this winter.
Delhi remained enveloped in layer of shallow fog until the afternoon, with the minimum temperature being recorded at 11.5 degrees Celsius, while the maximum plunged drastically to settle at 15.4 degrees Celsius as against 24 degrees Celsius yesterday.
Low visibility caused delay in services of 80 trains and rescheduling of 20 others, although flight operations were normal at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Rain lashed some parts of Punjab and Haryana even as the minimum temperature rose by several notches above normal in both states, whose joint capital Chandigarh recorded a rainfall of 8.9 mm and a minimum temperature of 12.9 degrees Celsius.
Narnaul in Haryana recorded a low temperature of 6.5
degrees Celsius, while Amritsar in Punjab registered a minimum of 9 degrees Celsius and Ludhiana and Patiala recorded their minimums at 10.2 and 13.4 degrees Celsius, respectively.
The minimum temperature dipped to 3.5 degrees in Shimla while Keylong and Kalpa in tribal areas recorded a low of minus 2.1 and minus 1.4 degrees Celsius.
In UP, dense fog occurred at many places resulting in the killing of seven people and injuries to 14 others in separate road mishaps in Bhadohi district.
The night temperatures rose markedly in Agra division, rose appreciably in Moradabad and Meerut divisions, rose in Allahabad divisions and changed a little in the remaining divisions of the state.
The lowest minimum temperature over the state was 7.1 degrees Celsius and the weather was dry over the state.
The Kashmir Valley experienced a slight relief from intense cold as the minimum temperature went up in the region while the mercury plummeted in Ladakh by several degrees.
Srinagar, the summer capital of J-K, recorded a low of minus 2.2 degrees Celsius, while Kargil, in Ladakh region, was the coldest recording a low of minus 9.9 degrees Celsius and the nearby Leh town recorded minus 9.4 degrees Celsius temperature.
