North India bears brunt of cold wave; 7 dead in Himachal

North India continued to be under the grip of cold wave as temperatures remained below the normal levels in most parts of the region, while seven persons were killed in avalanches in Himachal Pradesh.

National capital New Delhi shivered due to the cold wave with the minimum temperature plummeting to 4.4 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal at this time of season.

Residents of Kashmir got a slight respite from the bitter cold conditions as the night temperatures across the Valley registered an increase of several degrees.

Most of the water bodies across the Valley, including the world famous DalLake, continued to be partially frozen.

The summer capital Srinagar, which recorded a low of minus 5.3 deg C yesterday, was warmer by two notches at minus of 3.2 deg C during the night, a Met Department spokesman said.

The minimum night temperature in Pahalgam, which serves as a base camp during the annual Amarnath yatra, was minus 7.0 deg C as compared to the previous night's minus of 13.2 deg C, the spokesman said.

In Gulmarg, the minimum night temperature settled at minus 9.6 deg C.

Leh town in the cold desert of Ladakh showed a slight drop in the temperature with a low of minus 19.4 deg C, making it the coldest place in the state.

Himachal Pradesh reeled under cold wave conditions even as the region had a dry day with partially clouded sky.

Seven persons had been killed while 15 houses and apple orchards were damaged in avalanches in tribal Kinnaur district during past four days.

Avalanche threat loomed large over high altitude tribal areas and people have been advised not to venture out till the weather conditions improve.

Keylong in tribal Lahaul and Spiti, which was coldest in the region, recorded minimum temperature at minus 13.7 deg, four deg below normal while Manali recorded a low of minus 4.6 deg, followed by Bhuntar and Solan which recorded minimum temperature at minus 0.1 deg and 0.2 deg C.

State capital Shimla and Mandi recorded minimum temperature at 1.5 deg C while Sundernagar shivered at 1.1 deg C.

The plains of Uttar Pradesh were also hit by the cold wave as maximum temperature remained five to 11 deg C below normal in the past 24 hours.

Ghazipur was the coldest place with 3 deg C, Met said.

Punjab and Haryana also shivered under cold wave as mercury dropped by up to five notches below normal in several places in both states.

Thick fog enveloped plains of the two states, affecting road traffic, while a few trains were running late because of reduced visibility.

Karnal in Haryana turned out to be the coldest place in the region with minimum settling at 1.8 deg C, five notches below normal, the MeT office said on Wednesday.

Chandigarh experienced cold at 5.8 deg C.

Night temperatures increased marginally in parts of Rajasthan where Sriganganagar recorded a minimum of 2.7 degrees Celsius.