New Delhi:
Cold wave conditions held fort across north India today as the bitter chill claimed six more lives in Uttar Pradesh, taking the country-wide toll to 165 this winter.
In the national capital, it was yet another chilly day with the minimum settling at 5.3 degrees Celsius while the maximum was recorded at 18.7 degrees Celsius, both the readings being two notches below the normal level, the MET office said.
Six more people, including two women, died overnight in the extreme weather in Uttar Pradesh, officials said, adding the fresh fatalities occurred in Fatehpur district.
Najibabad was the coldest place in the state recording a low of two degrees Celsius.
In Kashmir Valley, freezing cold prevailed. Kargil town in Ladakh recorded a minimum temperature of minus 19.6 degrees Celsius becoming the coldest place of the region this season.
Leh town, also in Ladakh region, recorded a minimum of minus 18.2 degrees Celsius, while Gulmarg skiing resort in north Kashmir settled at a low of minus 16.5 degrees Celsius, the weather office said.
Summer capital Srinagar continued to remain in the grip of intense cold as the night temperature dipped to minus 3.6 degrees Celsius.
Giving no respite to the people, biting cold prevailed in Punjab and Haryana, with mercury plummeting to several notches below normal in most parts of the region.
Adampur in Jalandhar remained the coldest place in Punjab at a shivering 0.4 degree Celsius.
Similarly, mercury in Amritsar and Narnaul dipped by upto four degrees below normal with minimum temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius each.
While Chandigarh had a low of 4.8 degrees Celsius, Ludhiana and Patiala recorded a minimum of 3.9 degrees Celsius and five degrees respectively, three degrees below normal.
Ambala, Karnal and Rohtak in Haryana recorded lows of 4.9, three and 4.1 degrees Celsius respectively, plummeting by up to three notches, the MET Dept said.
The desert state of Rajasthan remained in the grip of a severe cold wave which affected normal life in many parts.
Churu in plains recorded the lowest temperature at zero degrees Celsius, while Mount Abu, the sole hill station, recorded minus one degrees Celsius, the MET office said.
Pilani recorded a minimum of 2.4 degrees Celsius. People in Chittorgarh and Vanasthali shivered at identical lows of 2.6 degrees Celsius.
Pink City Jaipur and Jodhpur recorded a minimum of 4.4 and 5.4 degrees Celsius respectively.
Meanwhile, a bright and sunny day failed to provide any relief to people from the biting cold in Himachal Pradesh as minimum temperatures remained below normal at most places.
State capital Shimla recorded a minimum of 0.6 degrees Celsius while tourist resort Manali settled at a low of 5.6 degrees Celsius, four notches below normal.
Solan and Bhuntar registered a minimum of 0.8 degrees Celsius.