Coild wave conditions brought a chill across the northern regions ofthe country, as well as some parts of the west. (Press Trust of India)
North India today continued to shiver under biting cold with the mercury dipping at several places, including Amritsar which froze at zero degrees Celsius, even as the western city of Nagpur recorded its lowest temperature in 45 year, at 5 degrees Celsius.
Delhi, which recorded a five-year-low yesterday at 2.6 degree C, got some respite, with the minimum temperature settling at 4.8 degree Celsius, even as dense fog enveloped the city, delaying 98 trains and several flights.
As many as 23 flights, mostly international, were delayed due to fog at Delhi airport and three international flights were diverted, while more than 98 trains were running late in the region.
In the west, as the cold wave gripped the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, temperatures in Nagpur dropped to a chilling five degree Celsius, the lowest recorded in 45 years.
"The city had witnessed a minimum of 5.5 degree Celsius in 1968, on December 29. Nagpur and adjoining areas have been experiencing extreme cold conditions since the last two days, when the mercury dipped to 6.1 and 5 degrees," Assistant Meteorologist AS Khan said.
In the north, Jammu and Kashmir too continued to reel under intense cold, with the mercury in the state's summer capital Srinagar settling at minus 4.1 degrees Celsius, even as Kargil was the coldest place in the state recording a low of minus 15.6 degree Celsius.
The night temperatures in the Kashmir Valley and the Ladakh region continued to remain several degrees below the freezing point.
Meanwhile, there was no respite from bone-chilling cold conditions and dense fog in most parts of Punjab and Haryana, with Amritsar freezing at zero degrees.
Amritsar registered the coldest night of the season so far, as minimum temperature plummeted three degrees below normal, Met officials in Chandigarh said.
A freezing chill also swept Narnaul in Haryana, which recorded a low of 1.5 degree Celsius, down four notches from the normal.
In Rajasthan too, cold and fog conditions continued unabated, with as many as 16 trains running behind schedule in the desert state.
Churu in the plains remained the coldest place, recording a minimum temperature of 0.6 degree Celsius, followed by Sriganganagar and Dabok at 3.1 and 3.2 degree Celsius respectively.
The sole hill station in the state, Mount Abu, shivered at 0.5 degree Celsius.
In most parts of Uttar Pradesh, an intense cold wave, coupled with dense fog, disrupted normal life. Churk in the eastern region of the state was the coldest place, with a low of 0.6 degree Celsius.
According to the Met office in Lucknow, the night temperature rose appreciably in Gorakhpur division, rose in Faizabad and Agra divisions and changed little in the remaining divisions of the state.