Leh goes in deep freeze at -19 degrees

At almost 19 degrees Celsius below the frezing point, Leh town in the Ladakh region Sunday recorded the lowest temperature of the season in Jammu and Kashmir.

The night temperatures in Kashmir also remained several notches below the freezing point.

"The minimum temperature was minus 18.9 degrees Celsius in Leh town today (eary Sunday morning), which is the lowest recorded in any town of Jammu and Kashmir this season so far," the Met Office director Sonam Lotus said here.

"In Kargil town of Ladakh region, the lowest was minus 16.6 while it is was minus 12.4 in Pahalgam and minus 10.8 in Gulmarg," Lotus said. "Jammu city recorded a minimum of 5.9 degrees, which is a degree below normal."

The official said weather would remain dry across the state during the next 12 hours.

Meanwhile, most water bodies in the state that serve as winter homes for the migratory birds have frozen and the birds are reported to be moving out to the unfrozen areas of the Wullar Lake to find food during these days.

The local wildlife protection department was organising artificial feed for thousands of migratory birds that flock the region during the harsh winter in northern regions like Siberia and Tibet.