Jammu's cold breaks 71-year record

With the minimum temperature settling at barely half a degree Celsius above the freezing point, Jammu city on Sunday recorded its coldest day since 1945, the weatherman said on Monday.

People in Jammu continued to shiver as throughout the past week, with dense fog and chilly wave affecting their lives on Monday.

The weather office has forecast chilly days in Jammu till January 27. "Foggy weather accompanied by chilly wind will continue in Jammu city till 27th of this month," said Sonam Lotus, director of Jammu and Kashmir meteorological department.

The dense fog forced cancellation and rescheduling of trains to and from Jammu city. The air traffic also remained suspended due to poor visibility. Motorists used headlights and blinkers to caution the vehicles ahead in the fog-blanketed city.

The minimum temperature recorded in Jammu city on Monday was 3.2 degrees Celsius. It was 4.9 in Katra, 1.9 in Batote, fractionally above the freezing point at 0.1 at Banihal and 0.8 in Udhampur town, and minus 0.9 in Bhaderwah.

In Srinagar, the night temperature stayed well below the freezing point at minus 3.3 degrees Celsius on Monday, while it was minus 5.9 in Pahalgam and minus 4.5 in Gulmarg.

In the Ladakh region, the minimum temperature was a whopping minus 14.7 degrees Celsius in the Leh town and minus 15.6 in Kargil town.