Sub-zero temp in Himachal tourist hotspots; mercury drops in Delhi

Tourist hotspots in Himachal Pradesh such as Kufri, Dalhousie and Manali shivered at sub-zero temperatures while the national capital Delhi experienced a relatively cold day with the maximum temperature dropping two notches below the normal on Wednesday.

The lowest temperature in Himachal was recorded in Keylong at minus 5.7 degrees Celsius.

Kinnaur's Kalpa recorded a low of minus 3.5 degrees Celsius, Kufri minus 4.4 degrees Celsius, Dalhousie minus 2.2 degrees Celsius, Manali minus 1.8 degrees Celsius and Shimla minus 1 degree Celsius, the Met department said.

The national capital woke up to a cold morning after overnight showers that also pushed the humidity level to 98 per cent. The Safdarjung observatory, whose reading is considered the official marking for Delhi, recorded 8 mm rainfall overnight while the reading at Palam, Lodhi Road, Aya Nagar and ridge area observatories were 3.4, 7.8, 6.3 and 4.2 mm respectively.

The maximum temperature was recorded at 20.6 degrees Celsius, two notches below the normal.

The weather department has predicted strong surface winds during day time and the maximum temperature is likely to improve on Thursday.

Cold weather persisted in most of Punjab and Haryana after overnight showers.

In Haryana, Ambala, Hisar and Karnal recorded a minimum temperature of 10, 4.1 and 7 degrees Celsius respectively.

The minimum temperature in Punjab's Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala was 9.4, 8.1 and 9 degrees Celsius respectively.

Officials said the minimum temperature dipped across Jammu region and hovered around the average despite overnight rains and fresh snowfall.

Meanwhile, the Jammu-Srinagar national highway was opened for one-way traffic.

A traffic department official said passenger vehicles were allowed from Jammu towards Srinagar.

Minor incidents of stones shooting from hillocks overlooking the highway were reported at a few places between Panthiyal and Ramsu overnight but the road was cleared to facilitate movement of traffic.

Another official said Srinagar-bound vehicles started crossing the Jawahar Tunnel around 11 am.

The highway witnessed frequent traffic disruptions on Tuesday due to inclement weather, leaving many vehicles stranded which were cleared on priority, officials said.

After overnight rains, it was a cloudy day in Jammu with the minimum temperature settling near the season's average at 8.9 degrees Celsius against the previous night's 10.8 degrees Celsius.