Sub zero temperatures at many places in Himachal, 900 roads blocked

Most parts of Himachal Pradesh, including capital Shimla, woke up to a sunny morning on Friday but many places in the state continued to shiver at sub zero temperatures, the Meteorological Department said.

Over 900 roads in the state remained snowbound and were blocked, a state disaster management authority (SDMA) official said.

Shimla Police on Thursday evening put out a Facebook post alerting tourists not to travel towards Kufri and Mashobra as the roads were still snow-bound.

Shimla Met Centre Director Manmohan Singh said the lowest temperature was recorded in tribal Lahaul-Spiti district's administrative centre Keylong at minus 17.6 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature in Manali of Kullu district was minus 7.6 degrees Celsius, followed by Kinnaur's Kalpa at 6.4, Shimla at minus 1.3 and Palampur at minus 1 degree Celsius, Singh said. It was minus 2.6 degrees Celsius in Kufri.

The minimum temperature in Seobagh was minus 2.5 degrees Celsius, Sundernagar minus 2, Solan and Bhuntar minus 1.6 degrees Celsius each, he added.

The minimum temperature in Dalhousie of Chamba district was 0.2 degrees Celsius.

The Met centre has forecast rain and snowfall in the middle and the high hills from January 11 to 15.