Biting cold wave sweeps north, Delhi shivers at record lows

North India on Sunday shivered under biting cold as the mercury dipped in several places including Delhi where it settled at five years' lowest at 2.6 degrees Celsius, with dense fog adding to the woes by disrupting road, rail and air traffic.

As many as 55 flights were delayed due to fog at Delhi airport and three international flights were diverted, while more than 80 trains were running late in the region.

The national capital, recorded the lowest temperature in the past five years with the mercury dipping to 2.6 degrees Celsius, five notches below normal. The maximum stood at 18.3 (rpt) 18.3 degrees Celsius, two notches below normal.

"This is the lowest temperature recorded in Delhi in the past five years. It could be the lowest in the past decade too ut records for the same aren't immediately available," a MeT fficial said, adding Delhi's all time low of 1.1 degrees was ecorded on 26 December, 1945.

Jammu and Kashmir too continued to reel under intense cold with the mercury in the state's summer capital Srinagar settling at minus 4.7 degrees Celsius and Leh recording the season's coldest night so far.

Leh, in the frontier Ladakh region, recorded a minimum temperature of minus 17.0 degrees Celsius, a further drop from the previous night's minus 16.4 degrees Celsius. Kargil, with a low of minus 15.2 degrees Celsius, was the second coldest place in the state after Leh.

The minimum temperature in Srinagar, the summer capital of the state, appreciated a little to settle at minus 4.7 degrees Celsius.

Srinagar witnessed the coldest night of this season so far with the mercury plunging to minus 5.6 degrees Celsius the previous night. Severe cold has led to the freezing of parts of many water bodies including the famous Dal Lake located in the heart of the city.

Meanwhile, bone-chilling cold wave conditions continued to sweep across Punjab and Haryana with Chandigarh recording the coldest night of the season so far at 2.3 degrees Celsius, five notches below normal.

In Haryana, Hisar shivered at 3.1 degrees, while Ambala's minimum settled at 3.5 degrees. In Punjab, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala, which were covered by fog in the morning, also continued to be under the grip of biting cold with the mercury dipping to 3.6, 3.7 and 3.6 degrees Celsius, respectively.

In Rajasthan too, extreme cold conditions continued unabated with Churu recording the state's lowest temperature at 1.4 degrees Celsius.

There was no respite from the shivering icy winds even as a thick blanket of fog engulfed parts of the state, delaying movement of at least 13 trains.

Sriganganagar recording a minimum temperature of 2.4 degrees Celsius while the mercury settled at 4.3 degrees in Pilani, 4.4 degrees in Dabok and 6.5 degrees in capital city Jaipur.

Meanwhile, intense cold wave, coupled with dense fog, disrupted normal life in most parts of Uttar Pradesh. Churk in eastern region of the state was the coldest place with a low of 0.5 degree Celsius.

According to the MeT office in Lucknow, night temperature fell appreciably in Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Faizabad and Allahabad divisions. In Mathura, minimum temperature was recorded at 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Image: Dense fog and an intense chill covered much of North India on early Sunday morning evidenced here by a train stuck midway near Allahabad. Met dept sources say that the cold wave will continue for another two days. Photograph: PTI