North India shivers under cold wave; thick fog resurfaces

New Delhi: Frigid conditions prevailed in north India with mercury plunging several notches and thick fog enveloping most parts of the region, disrupting normal life. Delhiites woke up to a cold and foggy morning which soon cleared giving way to sunshine as mercury hovered above normal with the maximum temperature settling at 22.3 degree Celsius and the minimum at 9 deg Celsius. Cold wave continued unabated in Kashmir Valley and Ladakh region as night temperatures further dipped below the freezing point in most parts, with the MeT Department predicting snowfall this week. The MeT department has forecast fresh Western Disturbance (WD) would affect the state from tomorrow resulting into rainfall or snowfall at few places. Meanwhile, a thick fog blanket enveloped most parts of Punjab and Haryana, disrupting normal life with cold condition prevailing in both the states and mercury hovering at normal. In Haryana, Narnaul recorded minimum at 2.9 deg C, two notches below normal, while Hisar and Karnal had a low of 6.4 deg C each. Mercury plummeted in most parts of Rajasthan with Mount Abu, sole hill station in the state, recording the lowest temperature of 1.4 degrees Celsius. Cold wave conditions prevailed in most parts of Himachal Pradesh even as minimum temperatures fluctuated in the state with Bharmaur and Keylong in tribal areas recording a low of minus 11.1 degree and minus 10.8 degree while Kalpa and Manali recoded a low of minus 2.5 degree. The North Western Railways (NWR) rescheduled its three trains, and at least 20 other trains were running late from one hour to six hours due to the foggy weather, a railway official said.