North India reels under cold wave on Christmas; dense fog disrupts flights at Delhi airport

NEW DELHI: There was no respite from cold wave conditions on Christmas in north India with dense fog partially stalling flight operations at Delhi airport, officials said on Tuesday.


Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 5 degrees Celsius, three notches below the normal, the weather office said.

Flight operations were partially suspended at the Delhi airport due to low visibility conditions as departures were put on hold and more than 80 flights were delayed, an official said.

The humidity level in Delhi was recorded at 100 per cent. Shallow and moderate fog in the evening is in forecast.

In Himachal Pradesh, cold wave conditions continued with the mercury plunging to minus 9.4 degrees Celsius in Keylong and popular tourist destination Manali reeling at minus 3.2 degrees Celsius.

Kalpa, Solan, Bhuntar, Sundernagar and Seobagh also witnessed sub-zero temperatures, Director of Shimla's Meteorological Centre Manmohan Singh said. The minimum temperature in state capital Shimla was 1.7 degrees Celsius.

Cold wave conditions 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.

However, Srinagar which recorded the coldest night in 11 years on Monday at minus 6.8 degrees Celsius, experienced some respite as mercury settled over a degree higher at minus 5.5 degrees Celsius last night, officials said.

Qazigund — the gateway town to the Valley — in south Kashmir recorded a low of minus 5.2 degrees Celsius, while the nearby Kokernag town registered a low of minus 5.3 degrees Celsius last night.

Kupwara in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 5.2 degrees Celsius last night, while in Pahalgam was at a low of minus 7.7 degrees Celsius last night. The ski-resort of Gulmarg recorded a minimum temperature of minus 7.6 degrees Celsius.

Leh recorded a low of minus 10.0 degrees Celsius last night - up from minus 14.7 degrees Celsius the previous night. Nearby Kargil recorded a low of minus 14.2 degrees Celsius.

Residents of Jammu woke up to a chilly Tuesday morning as the mercury further plunged to 4.1 degrees Celsius - the season's lowest so far.

The night temperature is on a decline across the Jammu region with the minimum temperature in Banihal and Batote, along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, and Bhaderwah in Doda district, slipping to sub-zero levels.

Banihal, the gateway to Kashmir, was the coldest recorded place in the region with a low of minus 3.3 degrees Celsius, followed by Bhaderwah at minus 2.2 degrees Celsius and Batote at minus 2 degrees Celsius.

Freezing cold conditions also gripped parts of Punjab and Haryana as minimum temperatures, which have been hovering below normal limits over the past two weeks, further plummeted.

Amritsar and Adampur reeled as the mercury plunged to a minimum temperature of 0.4 degrees Celsius, officials said.

Among other places in Punjab, Pathankot recorded a low of 2.9 degrees Celsius, Ludhiana 2.8 degrees Celsius, Faridkot 3.8 degrees Celsius, Gurdaspur 3.5 degrees Celsius, Bathinda 4.5 degrees Celsius and Halwara registered a low of 3 degrees Celsius.

Chandigarh recorded a minimum temperature of 5.5 degree Celsius.

In Haryana, Narnaul was the coldest place with a minimum of 2.5 degrees Celsius, while piercing cold also gripped Hisar, which witnessed a low of 2.8 degrees Celsius.

The cold wave conditions are likely to continue in the two states over the next few days, an official said.

Most parts of Uttar Pradesh was also in the grip of cold wave conditions and isolated areas witnessed shallow to moderate fog. Muzaffarnagar experiencing the lowest minimum temperature in the state at 1.6 degrees Celsius.

According to the meteorological department, night temperatures remained much below normal in Allahabad, Meerut, Faizabad, Lucknow and Bareilly divisions and below normal in Varanasi, Agra divisions.

Dense fog was also witnessed in various parts of Rajasthan amid cold wave conditions. Traffic movement was affected in Sriganganagar, Churu, Pilani, Sikar and Jaipur where visibility was as low as 50 to 90 metre and 90 to 100 metre in Bikaner, Alwar, Bhilwara and Chittorgarh.

Cold wave conditions in Alwar, Pilani, Sikar, Churu and Sriganganagar affected normal life.

Churu recorded a minimum of 1 degree Celsius followed by 1.4 degrees Celsius in Pilani, 2 degrees Celsius in Mount Abu, 2.8 degrees Celsius in Alwar, 3.5 degrees Celsius in Sikar, 4.3 degrees Celsius in Sriganganagar, 6 degrees Celsius in Jaisalmer, 6.2 degrees Celsius in Swai Madhopur.


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