New Delhi:
Fog, rains and snow troubled people across north India despite a rise in minimum temperatures across the region.
In Kashmir valley, many parts were covered with a layer of snow even as minimum temperature increased. Rains continued in Srinagar as the minimum night temperature rose from 0.7 degrees Celsius to 0.8 degrees above the freezing point.
Srinagar recorded 1.7 mm rainfall and light snowfall overnight.
High altitude areas of the Valley, including the famous skiing resort of Gulmarg, have received fresh snowfall and are covered with a thick layer of snow.
Officials said Gulmarg resort, 52 km from summer capital Srinagar, received eight inches of snow.
Gulmarg, which is the star attraction for tourists visiting the Valley during winters, remained the only place in the Valley to continue to reel under severe cold and recorded a minimum temperature of minus 8.0 degrees Celsius, a decrease of 1.1 degrees from yesterday.
Snowfall and rains also lashed parts of north and south Kashmir, the official said.
He said the south Kashmir gateway town of Qazigund received 8.8 mm rainfall and 0.2 centimetres of snow.
The north Kashmir frontier town of Kupwara, where minimum temperature was recorded at 0.2 degrees Celsius, received 14.4 mm rains and 7 centimetres of snow.
In the capital Delhi, the minimum temperature at 12.5 degree Celsius was five degree Celsius above normal and an early morning fog engulfed the city.
In Punjab and Haryana, cold conditions abated a bit with minimum temperature rising by upto six notches above normal even as dense fog blinded many places in the two states disrupting normal life.
Foggy weather conditions prevailing in the region continued to affect train movement and vehicular traffic.
Dense fog reduced the visibility to even less than 50 metres in Patiala, Karnal and Ambala among other places while the Met office said that visibility would be less than 100 metres at several places in both states in the next 24 hours.
Chandigarh recorded a minimum of 10.6 degree Celsius, six degrees above normal.
In Haryana, Ambala and Rohtak had a low of 10.4 degree Celsius and 11 degree Celsius respectively, up by four notches above normal. Hisar settled at 11.4 degree Celsius, increasing by 6 notches while Karnal and Narnaul recorded minimum of 9.3 degree Celsius and 7.5 degree Celsius.
Haryana also observed light rainfall at a few places, including Bhiwani and Mahendargarh.
With weather conditions remaining mainly dry in Punjab, Amritsar turned out to be the coldest place in both states, posting a low of 5 degree Celsius. Ludhiana and Patiala recorded mercury at 7.8 degree Celsius and 10.6 degree Celsius respectively.
As in other states, Rajasthan too saw and increase in night temperatures. Bikaner recorded the lowest temperature of 8 degrees Celsius in the state.
Churu was a close second with 8.3 degrees Celsius. Phalodi had a low of 8.5 degrees Celsius whereas Sikar recorded 9 degrees Celsius.
Jaisalmer recorded a minimum of 9.7 degrees Celsius, while Chittorgarh had a low of 9.8 degrees Celsius. Pink City Jaipur and Bharatpur recorded a minimum of 10.4 and 10.5 degrees Celsius respectively.