The North remained in the grip of cold conditions on Sunday with dense fog affecting rail and air traffic in the region.

The maximum temperature in the national capital settled at 16 degree Celsius, five notches below normal and the minimum temperature settled at 6.6 degree Celsius, one notch below normal.

Kolkata Rajdhani, Sealdah Rajdhani, Shaheed Express, Gomti Express, Kerala Express, Mangaldweep Express, Gomti Express, Shiv Ganga Express, Sampoorna Kranti Express, North East Express, Andaman Express, Taj Express, Ranchi Rajdhani Express and A P Express, among others were running late while trains for Kolkata, Pondicherry, Guwahati, Gaya, Puri, Hyderabad and Bhagalpur, among others, were rescheduled, according to the Northern Railways.

Fog conditions did not hit flight operations though 27 flights were conducted using instrument landing system.  

Overcast conditions gave residents of Kashmir and Ladakh some reprieve from cold wave as the night temperatures went up by several notches at most places. A Met department official said minimum temperature in Srinagar settled at minus 2.2 degrees Celsius.

The night temperature in Pahalgam settled at 5 degrees while Gulmarg recorded 1.6 degrees Celsius.

In Leh, minimum temperature was minus 10.2 degree Celsius while at Kargil it was minus 13 degree Celsius.

Icy winds continued to lash Uttar Pradesh forcing the authorities to order closure of the schools and disrupting normal life.

The toll in cold related incidents this season so far reached 178 with reports of 10 more deaths in different parts of the state.

Lucknow recorded the coldest day on Saturday with the mercury plummeting 11 degrees Celsius.

 The minimum temperature hovered around six degrees Celsius, the weather office said. Schools up to class eighth had been closed till January 15 while timings for the upper classes had been changed.
DHNS & Agencies