Slight respite from biting cold in north on New Year's eve

There was slight respite from the biting cold wave conditions prevailing in north India for the past few days with the mercury rising in many places including Delhi on the New Year's eve, even as fog continued to disrupt road and rail traffic.
Delhiites today got some respite from intense cold with the minimum temperature settling at 8.6 degrees Celsius, a rise of four degrees from yesterday. The maximum was recorded two notches below the season's average at 18.5 degrees.
Flight operations at the Indira Gandhi airport here were smooth, though as many as services of 103 trains were affected in the region, which witnessed moderate fog.

According to a Northern Railway official, "While 93 trains were running behind their schedule, two were cancelled and eight rescheduled."
In neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, where fog occurred at most places and cold wave prevailed at isolated places in eastern part of the state, a 40-year-old man died due to cold in Muzaffarnagar district. His body was found on the outskirts of the city last evening, police said.
State capital Lucknow sizzled under 3.6 degrees Celsius, the state's lowest minimum temperature.

The residents of Kashmir Valley too had some respite from extreme cold conditions as the night temperatures rose by around two degrees at most places.

Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, had a minimum temperature of minus 2.0 degrees Celsius, up by almost two degrees from the previous night's minus 3.8 degrees.
MeT officials said the mercury in Qazigund, the gateway town to the Kashmir Valley in south, also increased by almost two degrees to settle at minus 3 degrees Celsius.
Pahalgam in south Kashmir, recorded a minimum temperature of minus 3.5 degrees Celsius, an increase of over two degrees from the previous night's minus 6.0 degrees, while the mercury in the famous ski-resort of Gulmarg increased by a degree to settle at minus 3.2 degrees Celsius.

Leh, in Ladakh region, continued to be the coldest recorded place in the state as the minimum there settled at minus 14.4 degrees Celsius. Kargil, also in Ladakh region, registered a slight increase in the night temperature as the low there settled at minus 13.0 degrees Celsius.