Icy winds sweep northern India, UP's Kanpur hits zero-degree mark

Cold wave conditions persisted in northern states of the country on Tuesday, with Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur hitting the zero-degree mark and Sikar in Rajasthan recording a low of 1 degree Celsius.

A day after Delhi experienced the coldest recorded day in December, the sun shone bright bringing some respite though icy winds swept the city which saw a low of 4.8 degrees Celsius.

Delhiites would get some relief from the frigid conditions as the India Meteorological Department said that there would be "no cold wave in Delhi till January 4 (Saturday) and temperatures will rise further".

There will be moderate fog in Delhi on Wednesday and very light rain on Thursday.

According to a forecast by the MeT Department, snowfall is most likely in Himachal Pradesh's Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur districts on December 31 and in Kashmir Valley from January 1.

At least 34 trains were reported to be running late due to fog, including Chennai-Nizamuddin Duronto Express which was delayed by over eight hours, Bhubhaneshwar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express by six hours and Howrah-New Delhi Duronto Express delayed by three hours.

In Uttar Pradesh, Kanpur hit the zero-degree mark in the early hours of the day. State capital Lucknow shuddered at 0.7 degrees Celsius, while Bahraich recorded a low of 0.2 degrees Celsius.

Narnaul in Haryana was recorded as the coldest place in the state with a minimum temperature of 2.3 degrees Celsius, followed by Punjab's Amritsar and Ludhiana which shivered at 3.4 and 4.1 degrees Celsius, respectively.

In Rajasthan, Sikar remained the coldest place in the state at 1 degree Celsius, followed by Ganganagar 2.1 degrees, Jaipur and Bikaner at 2.7 degrees Celsius.

In the hill-state of Himachal Pradesh, Kufri, Manali, Dalhousie, Solan and Kalpa shivered at sub-zero temperatures.

The state's lowest temperature of the day was recorded in Keylong at minus 8.2 degrees Celsius.

Snowfall is most likely to occur in higher hills of Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur districts on December 31 and January 1 whereas in the middle hills of Shimla, Kufri and Manali on January 2 and 3, Shimla Meteorological Centre Manmohan Singh told PTI.

There was some respite from cold wave conditions for residents of Kashmir Valley as the minimum temperature improved, even as the weather office has forecast snowfall in the region from Wednesday.

The night temperature across the valley improved on Monday night, providing relief to residents, an official of the Meteorological Department here said.

He said Srinagar city recorded a low of minus 3.2 degrees Celsius last night - up over three degrees from minus 6.5 degrees Celsius the previous night.

According to the IMD, thundershowers accompanied by hail are expected in most of Madhya Pradesh on New Year's Day.

The visibility was very low due to fog in Rewa, Shahdol, Gwalior and Chambal divisions, the IMD said.

Hail accompanied thundershowers is likely in 49 out of 52 districts, senior meteorologist G D Mishra of IMD's Bhopal office said.