Srinagar: Winter continued its relentless onslaught in Jammu and Kashmir with authorities closing down schools in the Kashmir Valley till Class 8 and the Ladakh region shivering with the mercury at a biting minus 11.4 degrees Celsius.
The minimum temperature in the summer capital Srinagar was recorded at minus 2 degrees on Monday morning while it was minus 4.2 degrees in both North Kashmir's Gulmarg ski resort and South Kashmir's Pahalgam hill station.
However, the Met office has forecast some relief from on Wednesday as it expects light snowfall to bring up the minimum temperature.
"We are expecting light snowfall in the higher reaches, the plains of valley and the Ladakh region. This would provide some relief as the temperature is likely to rise because of the cloud cover accompanying the snowfall," Sonam Lotus, director of the local Met office, said here.
Because of the earlier-than-usual onset of winter in the valley this year, the authorities ordered closing of all government and private schools up to Class 8.
Leh town in the Ladakh region was the coldest in the state, recording a minimum of minus 11.4 degrees while Kargil recorded minus 7 degrees, the weather office said.
IANS
First Published: Monday, December 05, 2011, 11:16