Uttar Pradesh Meteorological department issues Orange alert for cold wave

Uttar Pradesh meteorological department issued an "orange alert" on Saturday regarding the cold wave condition in various parts of the state.

The IMD has four colour-coded warnings as per the intensity of the weather system -- green, yellow, orange and red. Orange warning means 'to be prepared'. Through an orange warning, the IMD indicates a risk to people and property.

Cold wave warnings have been issued in many districts of Uttar Pradesh including Prayagraj, Fatehpur, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Sultanpur, Ayodhya, Amethi, Bahraich, Hardoi, Rae Bareli, Lucknow, Barabanki, Unnao, Sitapur, Kanpur, Banda, Chitrakoot, Kannauj, Agra, Mathura, Farrukhabad, Hathras, Aligarh, Noida, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahar, Baghpat, Shamli, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Bijnor, Hapur, Rampur, Bareilly, Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur, Moradabad, Amroha, Lakhimpur and surrounding areas.

"Cold wave to severe cold wave conditions at many places very likely over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi; at a few places over West Uttar Pradesh; at isolated places over East Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan and cold wave conditions at isolated places over Jammu division, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh during the next 24 hours and decrease thereafter," IMD stated in its bulletin on Saturday.

The minimum temperature in the national capital dropped to 4.4 degrees Celsius on Friday morning and the cold wave condition will continue till Saturday, informed a top official from IMD.

It is considered to be a cold day when the minimum temperature drops below 10 degree Celsius and cold wave happen when it is below 4.5 degrees.