Cold wave further tightened its grip in the northern parts of the country on Thursday with most parts remaining engulfed in a thick blanket of fog, once again leading to cancellation of flights and disruptions in rail and road traffic.
Jalandhar was the coldest place in the plains, recording a minimum temperature of minus 0.6 degrees Celsius. Amritsar also reeled under intense chill as the mercury dipped zero degrees C, down four degrees.
Chandigarh, Udhampur, Jammu, Pathankot, Adampur, Halwara and Delhi reported zero visibility due to fog early Thursday morning, the Meteorological Department in Chandigarh said.
Indian, Jet Airways and Air Deccan flights from Delhi to Chandigarh had to be cancelled for third consecutive day due to the bad weather conditions.
Delhi residents braved a cold night as the national capital recorded a low of five degrees Celsius, down two degrees.
After witnessing snowfall earlier this week, piercing cold swept Srinagar and the low dropped to minus four degree Celsius, two degrees below normal range.
Most of Haryana has also been reeling under severe cold wave conditions. Hisar recorded a low of 3.3 degrees Celsius, down two degrees while Karnal registered a three degrees below normal low at four degrees Celsius.
Rail traffic on the Delhi-Ambala-Kalka section of the northern railways was affected due to dense fog. Many long distance mail, express, superfast and some sub-urban trains were running one to six hours late on this section, a report from Sonepat said.
Similarly, vehicular traffic on national highway number one and other state highways in Punjab and Haryana was affected due to poor visibility on account of thick fog.