New Delhi:
Delhi experienced its coldest day in five years on Christmas with the minimum temperature dipping to 2.9 degrees. Five more deaths due to the cold wave have been reported in the country, taking the death toll to 128. Uttar Pradesh has recorded the maximum casualties.
The Met department has predicted the temperatures will drop further in the coming days, especially in the northern and eastern parts of the country. There are ground frost conditions in some areas of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, which are adding to the wind chill factor, making matters worse.
In December last year, the minimum had come down to 5.2 degrees Celsius on the 22nd of the month. In the past decade, the lowest minimum for the month was recorded on December 12, 2005 when the mercury recorded 3.3 degrees Celsius while the highest maximum was 28.4 degrees on December 15, 2003.
The record for the lowest minimum for the month of December is 1.1 degree Celsius recorded on the 26th of the month in 1945 and the highest maximum was 29.3 degrees on third of the month in 1987.