Snow in the hills; two dead due to cold

The maximum temperature in capital Delhi was recorded at 22.8 degrees celsius and the minimum was 13.2 degrees celsius, five notches above the normal.

A sadhu and a beggar died in Jammu city due to cold, police said.

Most parts of the Kashmir Valley, including Srinagar, today received fresh snowfall, leading to closure of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.

The snowfall began late last evening and by this morning, the entire Valley had turned white.

The snowfall has led to closure of the 294-km Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, the only road link between Kashmir and the rest of the country.

In Uttarakhand, a thick sheet of snow covered the hills of Dhanaulti near Mussoorie as the state reeled under intense cold with the higher reaches of Himalayas in Kumaon and Garhwal regions receiving heavy snowfall and the plains lashed by moderate to heavy rains.

The current spell of snowfall and rains in the hill state has been caused by the western disturbance over Jammu and Kashmir and an induced cyclonic circulation over Rajasthan and adjoining areas, Met office Director Anand Sharma said.

Places located at an altitude of over 3,000 metres in Chamoli and Pithoragarh districts received heavy snowfall while lower areas in these districts were lashed by rains, he said. MORE