Cold wave sweeps north India, 2 die in UP

Cold wave swept most parts of north India on Saturday, as mercury dipped to zero degree Celsius in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir's Leh district shivered at minus 19 degrees even as extreme cold conditions claimed two more lives in Uttar Pradesh.

The day also saw the national capital recording the season's lowest temperature of 5.2 degrees Celsius. People had to brave icy winds as mercury dipped 2.2 notches from Friday's 7.4 degrees.

A thin layer of fog engulfed the city in the morning reducing the visibility to 700 m. However, flight movement was not affected.

Snowfall in higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir valley brought down temperatures in Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand where foggy conditions prevailed, meteorological officials said.

Two people died in Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh.

Leh and Kargil districts were reeling under severe cold wave as minimum temperatures dipped to minus 19.4 and minus 14.0 respectively. Even day temperatures registered a steep fall with the two places recording a minimum of minus 2 degrees and 5.8 respectively.

Srinagar recorded a low of minus 4.4 degrees. However, there was a little improvement in Jammu as the city recorded a minimum of 6.8. The city had recorded a low of 4.7 yesterday.

The high reaches of Himachal Pradesh remained under sub-zero temperature while the lower areas had no respite from the shivering cold winds. Kaza in Lahaul-Spiti recorded night temperature of minus 16 degrees. Keylong, the headquarters of Lahaul-Spiti, had a night temperature of minus 11.4 degrees.

Officials said Spiti river froze at many places due to extreme cold condition.

Similarly, Kalpa in Kinnaur district registered night temperature of minus 4 degrees Celsius while it was minus 0.4 degree in Bhuntar, they said.

The condition in most parts of Punjab and Haryana intensified further with Rohtak and Amritsar registering bone-chilling temperatures. Rohtak and Amritsar braved the season's coldest night so far at zero degree and 0.5 degrees each respectively, down by six and three notches.

Biting cold also prevailed in most parts of Haryana, including Karnal, where the season's lowest minimum was registered at 1.9 degrees, down six notches.

Mount Abu continued to be the coldest place in Rajasthan with a minimum temperature of 1.4 degrees followed by Ganganagar at 4.2 degrees, a Met official said.

Churu chilled at 4.4 degree Celsius while Dabok and Dholpur shivered at 6.7 and 6.8 degrees respectively.

Dry cold conditions continued in the Uttarakhand where normal life was affected in the hilly areas due to Friday's snowfall. The minimum temperature on Saturday was recorded at 3.9 degree Celsius in the state.

Cold conditions in the region are likely to continue over the next few days, according to the Met department.