North catches severe cold

Foggy conditions prevailed in Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand.
Most parts of Jammu and Kashmir continued to reel under intense cold as the night temperature dropped further owing to clear skies.

Leh and Kargil districts in the cold desert of Ladakh were freezing at minus 19 and minus 18 degrees Celsius, respectively, Met office said. The two places also registered a dip in the day temperature which settled at minus 2 in Leh and minus 4 in Kargil.

In the Kashmir valley, the famous hill resort of Pahalgam was the coldest place with a low of minus 7.6 degrees.

In the plains of Punjab and Haryana, Amritsar was coldest with a low of 1.4 degrees, three notches below normal. While Rohtak shivered at a low of 3.2 degrees, three notches below normal, Ambala registered 3.8 degrees, also three units below normal.

The ongoing spell of cold conditions have so far claimed three lives, including two in Bathinda and one at Yamuna Nagar in the past one week, officials in Punjab said. Normal life was affected as mercury dipped to one degree in the hill resort of Mount Abu in Rajasthan on Thursday night.

Upper air layer of famous Nakki Lake in Mount Abu showed thin frost in the wee hours on Friday. Dry weather and clear sky would further aggravate cold conditions in the state in the coming weekend, a Met department forecast said.