Intense cold, dense fog disrupt normal life in north

Intense cold wave continued across north India today even as dense fog in large parts of the region affected normal life and disrupted road, rail and air traffic.
A thick blanket of fog covered several areas, including Delhi, affecting nearly 100 trains and over a dozen flights, officials said.
A 70-year-old man died yesterday reportedly due to biting cold conditions in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, where cold wave and dense fog played havoc in many parts.
In the national capital, the maximum temperature settled six notches below the season's average at 14.5 degrees Celsius while the minimum was recorded at 7.2 degrees.

Foggy conditions affected running of 56 north-bound trains including Rajdhani Expresses coming from Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Ranchi and Dibrugarh. Fifteen flights were delayed at Delhi airport due to low visibility, while three services were delayed in Chandigarh.
Cold conditions persisted in Rajasthan with the mercury plummeting in several areas and with dense fog adding to the people's woes by disrupting road and rail traffic. As many as 25 trains under the North-Western Railway were running late.

Churu recorded the lowest temperature in the state at 2 degrees Celsius, five notches below normal. In other parts of the state, mercury dropped by one to 6 degrees. People in the plains of Churu, Sikar, Pilani and Udaipur shivered under biting cold with the minimum settling below 4.5 degrees.

Dense fog enveloped state capital Jaipur as it recorded a minimum of 6.6 degrees, about two notches less than that of the previous night.
Cold wave also continued in Punjab and Haryana with dense fog affecting rail and air traffic to and from Chandigarh.
Amid bone-chilling weather conditions, Ludhiana was the coldest place in the region with a minimum temperature of 2.3 degrees Celsius, four notches below normal. Amritsar recorded the second lowest minimum at 2.4 degrees Celsius, while Patiala's low settled at 6 degrees Celsius.
In Haryana, minimum temperatures in Ambala and Karnal stood at 6 and 7 degrees Celsius, respectively. Hisar's low was recorded at 4.8 degrees Celsius. The minimum in the Union Territory of Chandigarh settled at 4.9 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh and the Kashmir Valley continued to reel under biting cold as the weather shows no sign of improvement.