Cold spell continues in north India as weatherman hints at rain

New Delhi: Freezing winter conditions coupled with overcast skies in several areas kept the north firmly under the grip of the cold with fog also affecting normal life across the region where there is a forecast for rain or snowfall in some parts in the coming days.

Cloudy skies and traces of rainfall and icy winds caused the day temperature to drop four notches below the normal in Delhi, where the minimum, however, rose four points above the season's average.

Thus, the maximum in the national capital was recorded at 17.5 degrees Celsius today while the minimum was at 9.5 degrees.

Moderately foggy conditions in the morning today saw three trains being cancelled while 20 of them were rescheduled with 40 trains running late by several hours.

The weatherman has predicted a spell or two of light rain or thundershowers in the city tomorrow along with shallow fog in the morning while there is also a similar forecast for isolated places in western Uttar Pradesh.

Higher up in Jammu and Kashmir, minimum temperatures rose by several degrees at most places in Kashmir division, including in the Ladakh region even as dark clouds engulfed the Valley with the MeT department predicting rain or snowfall over the next three days.

"A fresh western disturbance has become active and there are chances of fairly widespread to widespread rain or snow for three days from today," the weather office said.

The mercury in Srinagar, the summer capital of J-K, rose above freezing point for the first time in the last six days with the city recording a low of 1.7 degrees, four notches higher than -2.4 degrees yesterday.

Meanwhile, in UP, a 19-year-old girl was killed and six others injured when the vehicle they were travelling in overturned due to dense fog in Pratapgarh district.

Fog occurred at most places across the state where the mercury fell appreciably in the Gorakhpur, Faizabad, Lucknow, Bareilly and Meerut divisions.

The lowest minimum recorded in the state was 2.8 degrees at Fursatganj.

Cold wave conditions continued to prevail in Punjab and Haryana with poor visibility due to fog affecting transport services across both the states.

At least six flights to Delhi and Mumbai were delayed from Chandigarh while rail traffic also took a hit with many trains running late or behind schedule.

Narnaul in Haryana recorded the lowest minimum for the two states at 4.5 degrees while Amritsar in Punjab registered a low of 5.5 degrees. Chandigarh, the common capital of Haryana and Punjab, recorded a minimum of 8.6 degrees with conditions remaining cloudy in the Union Territory today.

The desert state of Rajasthan saw a marginal increase in the minimum even as light rainfall occurred at isolated areas in the Jaipur, Jodhpur and Bikaner divisions in the last 24 hours.

Light to moderate rainfall is likely to occur at isolated pockets of the state in the next 24 hours, the MeT office said.