Winter chill grips northern region

The winter chill further aggravated in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh with the mercury nosediving by up to seven degrees below normal, while several parts of the region remained covered in thick fog.

Amritsar was the coldest place in the region, recording a minimum of zero degree Celsius, down by four notches from normal, Met office said.

Ludhiana and Patiala also saw minimum temperature going down by up to six degrees and settling at 0.2 C and 2.4 C respectively. In Haryana, Ambala and Rohtak recorded a low of 0.3 C and 0.9 C with mercury falling by seven and five degrees respectively below normal.

The mercury in Chandigarh dipped to 3.2, which was three degrees less than the normal.
People in Himachal Pradesh had no respite from cold conditions with higher reaches remaining under sub zero temperatures while chilly winds swept lower areas.

Keylong, headquarters of Lahaul and Spiti district, with a night temperature of minus 9.7 degree Celsius remained the coldest place in the hill state, Met office said.
Elsewhere in the state, Kullu settled at a low of 0.4 and Sundernagar at 0.2 degree Celsius

Mount Abu remained the coldest place in Rajasthan with recording a minimum temperature of one degree Celsius, followed by Ganganagar at 5.4 degrees.
Churu settled at a minimum of 6.1 degrees while Sikar and Pilani chilled at 8.5 and 6.9 degree Celsius respectively.

Dry cold conditions continued in Uttarakhand with sun shining brightly during the day, even as night temperatures fell considerably in several areas like hill resorts of Mussoorie and Nainital.

In capital Dehradun, the minimum temperature continued to hover around 5 degree Celsius, two notches below the normal, Met office said.

A chilly morning with a mist cover greeted people in the national capital even as the mercury rose marginally to settle at 5.7 degree Celsius. On Sunday Delhi recorded a low of 5.5 degrees.

Most parts of Jammu and Kashmir had a little respite from intense cold with the day and night temperatures rising by a few notches even as Ladakh region continued to shiver.
The minimum temperature dipped to minus 15.2 degree Celsius in Kargil and minus 14.0 degree C in Leh.

In Srinagar, the night temperature was minus 2.6 degree Celsius as against minus 3.7 degree Celsius recorded on Sunday