New Delhi: North India was gripped by bone chilling cold on Thursday as temperatures nosedived across the region claiming nine more lives.
Capital Delhi recorded a maximum temperature of 12.7 degrees Celsius, 8 less than normal and a minimum of 4.4 degrees Celsius, 3 less than the usual.
Kashmir Valley continued to reel under intense cold as temperatures across the state plunged further, even as the fringes of the famous Dal Lake here were frozen for the first time this winter.
The summer capital Srinagar registered the coldest night of the season for the second time this winter as minimum temperature dropped to minus four degrees Celsius.
Cold wave continued unabated in Uttar Pradesh as nine more persons succumbed to the chill in the state, taking the death toll this winter to 116.
Two persons each died in Deoria, Chandauli and Gazipur districts, followed by one each in Bijnor, Jhansi and Barabanki, officials said.
Najibabad was the coldest place in the state where the minimum temperature was recorded at 2.4 degrees, the Met office said, adding that maximum temperatures also remained below normal by 5 to 11 degrees over some parts of western UP.
Night temperatures plummeted in most parts of the region, including Allahabad, Faizabad, Moradabad, Agra, Meerut, Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly and Jhansi divisions.
Mercury plummeted in parts of Rajasthan where Mount Abu
recorded zero degrees Celsius.
Bikaner also recorded a low of 0.4 degree Celsius.
Intense cold continued its grip on most parts of Punjab and Haryana today as a thick blanket of fog played havoc with normal life in the region.
The minimum temperatures hovered between four degrees Celsius below normal to four notches above normal in most parts of Punjab and Haryana, the Met office said here.
In the plains of Punjab and Haryana, Narnaul reeled under a low of 0.5 degrees Celsius, which was four notches below normal making it the coldest place in the region.
While Karnal braved a low of 4.2 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal, the minimum temperature at Chandigarh was 4.7 degrees Celsius.
Among other places in the twin agrarian states, Bhiwani settled at a low of 4.8 degrees Celsius followed by five degrees Celsius at Hisar, 5.2 degrees Celsius at Patiala, one notch below normal, 5.6 degrees Celsius at Ludhiana and 6 degrees Celsius at Ambala.
The night temperatures were up by an average upto two degrees Celsius in the region, the Met office said.
However, a thick blanket of fog in the morning at most places in the region affected all modes of travelling, disrupting normal life.
PTI
