Rains, snow lash North; lightning kills 2 in UP

Rains and thundershowers lashed large parts of North India today leaving two persons dead in Uttar Pradesh while the hill states experienced fresh snowfall keeping the mercury down in the region.
In New Delhi, overnight rains and thunderstorm ended the warm spell people have been experiencing for the last couple of days and brought back chill in the air.
Rain gauges measured 7.6 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours.
Maximum temperature in the national capital plummeted from yesterday's 27.1 degree Celsius to 22.6 deg C today which is two notches below normal.
However, minimum temperature in the city climbed from yesterday's 13.9 deg C to 14.9 deg C.

Light to moderate rain was witnessed in parts of Uttar Pradesh and two persons were killed after being hit by lightning in the state.

One person each was killed in Jalaun and Etah districts after lightning hit them, official sources said here.
Met has warned that thunder-squall and hailstorm would occur at isolated places over the state during next 24 hours.
Fresh snowfall across Kashmir prompted authorities to issue an avalanche warning in higher reaches of the Valley, while the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway remained closed for the second day today.
"The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway is closed for vehicular traffic due to continuous snowfall on either side of Jawahar tunnel in south Kashmir," a spokesman of the traffic department said.

The 294-km arterial highway, the only all-weather road link between Kashmir and rest of the country, was closed yesterday due to snowfall.
The snowfall in the Valley has affected normal life as electricity supply has been snapped while many roads in rural areas have been blocked due to snow.
Srinagar received the second major snowfall of the winter this morning.