4 die in UP cold wave, toll 26 in state; cold abates in North West

New Delhi, Dec 15 (UNI) Four more people died in the cold wave in Uttar Pradesh in the last 24 hrs taking the toll to 26, while temperatures climbed in Himachal Pradesh and in the entire North West plains.

In Uttar Pradesh, one person each died in Lucknow, Badaun, Bijnore and Bhadoi since yesterday. Snowfall in the upper reaches of Uttaranchal has led to a cold wave in Uttar Pradesh, the weatherman said.

Rail traffic, as usual, has been disrupted by fog in the countryside, highways too have been affected. Except for buses and trucks very few private vehicles could be seen during early morning and late at night.

Allahabad was the coldest at six degrees Celsius, which was three degrees below normal. Agra recorded 7.6 degrees, Bareilly 8.6, Gorakhpur and Kanpur 8.9 degrees each.

The weather office has forecast mainly a clear sky with a mist or shallow fog in the next 24 hours in Uttar Pradesh.

In the national capital, the mercury climbed to 10.6 degrees, nearly three degrees above normal as visibility levels improved in the day.

''No significant change is likely to occur in night temperatures over plains of northwest India in the next two to three days,'' Met officials said.

Bright sunlight led to a rise in minimum temperature to 8.5 degree, one degree above normal, yesterday.

The weatherman has forecast a mainly clear sky in Delhi during the next 24 hours with slight fog expected in the morning. The minimum has been forecast at 10 degrees.

In Rajasthan, a cloudy sky provided some respite from the intense cold wave in the state.

Churu remained the coldest recording six degree. According to the weather department, the cloud cover led to an increase of the temperature by one to two degree in some parts of the state.

In Chandigarh, the mercury was up to normal at 8.4 degrees from yesterday's 4.6 degrees while in Shimla it was 5 degrees above normal at 8.6. Patiala remained two degree above normal at 8.6.

Fog continued to affect visibility in many areas in the region with zero visibility in Adampur and Halwara in Punjab. Road and rail traffic was also delayed at many places at night and early morning due to the fog, which was likely to continue for a few days.

However, the cold wave was likely to recur soon in many parts of Himachal Pradesh as the weatherman predicted rain or snow at isolated belts in the moutainous state.

Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh were also likely to receive their share of rain with thunder at some places during next 24 hours.

In Haryana, Narnaul which had recorded the minimum temperature at 4.5 degrees yesterday was warmer today with mercury rising to 7.6 while it was at 9.0 (+2) at Ambala, 7.6 (-1) at Karnal and 8.8 (+1) degrees at Hisar.

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