Mercury rises slightly in north but cold wave persists, 3 die in UP

Intense cold wave today continued to sweep across north India, including Uttar Pradesh where at least three persons died, with dense fog severely affecting road, rail and air traffic, even though night temperatures went up marginally in several places.

A thick blanket of fog covered vast swathes of north India disrupting services of nearly 100 trains including Rajdhani Expresses coming from Dibrugarh, Bhubaneshwar and Sealdah, and operations at Delhi airport where at least 27 flights were either delayed or diverted.

In the national capital, the minimum temperature settled at 4.5 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal, according to MeT officials. The maximum stood at a notch above the season's average at 20 degrees Celsius.

In neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, Nazibabad shivered under 2.5 degrees Celsius while three persons died of extreme cold conditions in different areas of Barabanki district since last night.

According to the MeT office in Lucknow, cold conditions and fog continued in most places of the state, affecting normal life. Night temperatures rose in Bareilly division.

Minimum temperatures across Kashmir registered a slight increase providing relief to the people from the bone-chilling cold that prevailed for the past few days.

The minimum temperature recorded in the summer capital Srinagar was minus 3.8 degrees Celsius against minus 4.1 degrees the previous night, according to the MeT department.

Leh, which recorded the coldest night of the season at minus 17.02 on Sunday, registered an increase of nearly three degrees in the night temperature which settled at minus 14.3 degrees Celsius. In the nearby Kargil too, night temperature went up and settled at minus 13.6 degrees against minus 15.6 degrees yesterday.

Hill resort Pahalgam recorded a low of minus 6 degrees Celsius, while famous ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded a minimum of minus 4.2 degrees Celsius against minus 3.4 degrees the previous night.

Meanwhile, piercing cold wave continued in most parts of Punjab and Haryana and a thick blanket of fog disrupted normal life in several places.

Amritsar was the coldest place in the region as it registered a minimum of 1.4 degrees Celsius, two notches below the normal. Dense fog reduced the visibility below 50 metres in Ludhiana, Patiala, Amritsar, Karnal and Ambala in the morning, a MeT official said.

Bone-chilling cold conditions swept Narnaul in Haryana as its minimum temperature was recorded at 1.5 degrees Celsius, four degrees below the normal. Chandigarh's low settled at 4.8 degrees Celsius.

In Punjab, cold conditions prevailed in Ludhiana, the industrial hub of Punjab, as it recorded minimum temperature at 5 degrees while Patiala had a low of 5.1 degrees Celsius.

Hisar and Karnal in Haryana recorded their lows at 3.4 and 4 degrees Celsius, respectively.

In the desert state of Rajasthan, cold conditions continued unabated with dense fog affecting movement of trains and road traffic.

As many as 22 trains were running late and two trains were cancelled in the region, a North Western Railway spokesperson said.

The mercury dipped to minus 1.4 degrees Celsius in Mount Abu - the sole hill station in the state. Churu in the plains recorded a minimum at 0.1 degree Celsius.

Minimum temperatures in Sriganganagar, Bikaner, Jaipur, Jaisalmer and Ajmer were recorded at 3.2, 4.9, 5.3, 5.7 and 7.5 degrees Celsius, respectively.