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Delhi and Leh were among some of the places in northern India which recorded their lowest minimum temperatures so far this winter as the cold gained in intensity in the region.
The national capital saw the mercury dipping to 4.5 degrees Celsius on a clear but chilly day as icy winds swept the city. The minimum on Saturday had been 4.9 degrees.
The maximum in the national capital ton Sunday was recorded at 19.5 degrees, one notch below normal, while the minimum was at three notches below normal, the MeT department said.
Up north, Jammu and Kashmir felt the cold tightening its grip with the night temperature plummeting to the season's lowest of -17.3 degrees in Ladakh's Leh. The mercury in Leh had stood at -14.9 degrees the previous night.
Kargil recorded a minimum of -16.4 degrees, the lowest for the town this season.
Srinagar registered a drop of almost two degrees in the minimum as the mercury settled at -3.7 degrees.
The weatherman has said that conditions would remain cold and dry over the next 24 hours with a possibility of rain or snowfall on December 31.
The cold was sweeping through Himachal Pradesh in its full fury as the mercury hovered around freezing point in most parts of the state on what was by and large a clear day.
The minimum ranged between -12 and -22 degrees as the lower hills reeled under sub zero temperatures. Keylong and Kalpa in Lahaul and Spiti and Kinnaur districts recorded minimums of -9.7 and -5 degrees, respectively, while Manali shivered at -2.4 degrees.
Shimla was lashed by icy, strong velocity winds and recorded a minimum of 2.1 degrees.
The forecast is for snow and rainfall at isolated places in the lower, middle and higher hills of the state over the coming 48 hours, raising the hopes for a 'White New Year'.
The winter chill had almost all of Punjab and Haryana under its grip with Hisar recording its lowest minimum yet as the mercury dropped across the two neighbouring states.
Hisar in Haryana saw the mercury drop to a new low of -0.8 degrees after the minimum there had touched freezing point on Saturday.
Narnaul recorded a low of 0.1 degrees, six notches below normal.
In Punjab, Adampur in Jalandhar district registered the lowest recorded minimum at 0.5 degrees.
Normal life continued to be affected by the rising cold in parts of Rajasthan where Churu and Mount Abu saw temperatures dropping below freezing point.
Churu and Mount Abu recorded minimums of -0.5 and -1 degrees, respectively. Such has been the drop in the mercury that the civic water supply froze in Churu while ice flakes were seen in the upper layers of Nakki lake in Mount Abu.
In Uttar Pradesh, the weather remained mainly dry with Agra recording the lowest minimum in the state at 1.4 degrees.
Fog disrupted normal life at isolated places as the mercury fell appreciably in the Lucknow, Jhansi and Agra divisions.
The MeT office said that the weather would remain mainly dry over the state while rain or thundershowers could occur at isolated places.
Image: A man walks past snow covered cars in Shimla on Saturday
Photograph: Reuters