Motorcyclists ride through fog on a cold winter morning, in Mirzapur district, Uttar Pradesh, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025.
Credit: PTI Photo
Lucknow: Large parts of Uttar Pradesh were in the grip of severe cold wave with the minimum temperature hovering around five degree at some places even as the meteorological department issued a red alert for dense fog in more than 50 districts in the state.
Dense fog continued to envelop almost the entire state on Friday disrupting movement of planes and trains. Temperatures dropped sharply in Lucknow and some other places also on Friday.
Visibility was almost zero in Kushinagar, Gorakhpur, Agra, Bareilly and in some other districts. Several flights were cancelled while long distance trains were reported running late by several hours causing great inconvenience to the people.
The Met office has issued a cold day warning for 40 districts predicting a sharp fall in the day temperatures there.
The severe cold has not even spared the gods as deities at many temples across the state were covered with woolen cloths. Heating systems were also installed in some temples to keep the deities warm.
A ‘mahant’ (head) of the famous Ram-Janki Temple in Varanasi said that covering the deities with blankets and quilts reflected the traditional belief that the gods also experienced cold like ordinary human beings.
The Met office said that two western disturbances would become active from Sunday and the day temperature would rise and the density of the fog would also lessen.