PHOTO: When Kashmir woke up to this!

The Kashmir valley was blanketed white on Friday after receiving the season’s first snowfall.

Tourist hot spots like Gulmarg and Pahalgam woke up on Friday morning under a thick blanket of snow.

Higher reaches of Kashmir on Thursday experienced fresh snowfall while rains lashed the plains even as minimum temperatures in most parts of the valley stayed slightly above the freezing point.

The snowfall and rains broke the long, dry spell in the valley bringing some cheer to the locals and tourists.

However, it wasn’t all happiness and cheer after the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, the only road link with the rest of the country, had to remain shut to traffic at several places owing to the heavy snowfall.

The snowfall will give a fillip to tourism in the valley, which had seen a dip because of the dry spell.

The local weather department has forecast rains and snow in the entire valley on Friday. The administration has fully geared up to meet the situation.

Image: Winter wonderland is here! A train chugs along snowy tracks after the season's first snowfall. Photograph: Umar Ganie/Rediff.com