Fog and cold wave disrupt normal life across North India

Intense cold wave in North, West and Central India is expected to continue for the next couple of days.

Scientist in the MeT department, Charan Singh said, the prevailing cold wave is likely to continue in Punjab, Rajasthan, and Haryana and is expected to extend in the areas of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Saurashtra and Kutch. He said, minimum temperature in these areas will remain below normal.

Delhi recorded the coldest temperature of the season this morning, with the mercury dipping to 3.8 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature is four notches below the season's average. The MeT office has predicted that the maximum temperature is expected to hover around 21 degrees Celsius during the day.

Whole of Uttar Pradesh is in the grip of intense cold wave. The mercury continued to dip at several places, especially during the night. Dense fog has also disrupted normal life by affected rail and road traffic.

Muzaffarnagar continues to be the coldest place in state recording the lowest temperature of 1.6 degrees Celsius which is 5 degrees below normal. Night temperatures remained below normal in Varanasi, Faizabad, Allahabad, Lucknow, Bareilly, Meerut, and Agra divisions.

In state capital Lucknow also night temperature plummeted to 4.8 degree which was 4 degrees below normal.

Railways has cancelled as many as 46 trains already and recently



cancelled Gomti express which runs daily between Lucknow to Delhi and Humsafar express which runs between Gorakhpur to delhi.

Met department has predicted chilly weather ahead and has also warned about ground frost at some places in western part of state.

The cold wave tightened its grip on Himachal Pradesh with the mercury plunging to minus 9.4 degrees Celsius in Keylong and popular tourist destination Manali reeling at minus 3.2 degrees Celsius.

Cold wave conditions also intensified across Kashmir as the mercury slipped further below the freezing point, resulting in frozen water bodies and water supply lines in several residential areas.

The foot-fall of tourists, both domestic and international, has increased remarkably in Kashmir in the last two months, raising hopes of a better tourist season in New year.

Amid chilly winds and a  severe cold wave the tourist resorts in kashmir are seeing good hustle and bustle these days. The occupancy is near total at the world famous ski resort of Gulmarg.

The early snowfall in November has brought cheer to those related to tourist trade. At snow clad tourist resorts and partially frozen dal lake foreign and domestic tourists are enjoying the scene. According to tourism department the queries and bookings for new year are also  encouraging.