Kashmir registers coldest night: cold wave toll rises to 169

New Delhi, Jan 14 (UNI) Kashmir braved the coldest night of the season with temperatures dropping to minus 6.1 degrees Celsius as severe cold conditions sweeping North India failed to dampen the spirits of devotees wanting a dip on the occasion of Makar Sankranti today.

One more person died in eastern Uttar Pradesh taking the nationwide toll to 169 so far. The cold wave has claimed 110 lives in Uttar Pradesh, 19 in Punjab and Haryana, 35 in Bihar and five in North Bengal.

In the North-West people continued to shiver with the mercury staying two degree to four degrees below normal in the plains.

The mercury stayed below the zero degree mark at Amritsar and Adampur, near Jalandhar, two of the coldest places in the plains.

At Chandigarh, Karnal, Ludhiana, Patiala and Narnaul the night temperatures were two to four degrees below normal. In Himachal Pradesh the higher reaches were cold with Kalpa freezing at minus 5.5 degrees.

Cold wave conditions prevailing at many places in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh are likely to continue in the next two days, according to the Weather Office here. The weather is expected to be cloudy but dry in Punjab and Haryana, while in the higher reaches of HP, snow is expected.

In Punjab, Adampur continued to be the coldest place, recording the minimum temperature at minus 0.8 degrees, followed by Amritsar registering minus 0.4 degrees, four degrees below normal.

Cold wave also swept Haryana with Narnaul in Mahendergarh district recording 1.3 degrees. The minimum settled at 4.0 degrees at Karnal, three degrees below normal, 4.0 degrees at Hisar and 5.1 degrees at Ambala.

Cold wave conditions prevailed in Chandigarh and its adjoining areas as the mercury stayed low. The city recorded the minimum at 5.0 degrees which was still two degrees below normal.

In Uttar Pradesh biting cold wave conditions continued with the weatherman forecasting a further drop in mercury in the coming days coupled with dry weather.

Allahabad, Faizabad, Bareilly, Agra, Jhansi, Lucknow and Kanpur divisions witnessed a dip in the night temperature, the met office told UNI.

Agra at 3.4 degrees -- 4 degree below normal -- was the coldest place in UP. Sultanpur recorded 4 degrees, followed by 5 degrees each in Jhansi, Bareilly and Bahraich.

In Rajasthan chilly conditions persisted in northern part of the state and as well as Jaipur.

Churu recorded a minimum temperature of 2.4 while Jaipur reported 3.5 degrees.

People in Kashmir braved the coldest night of the season so far with the minimum plummeting to minus 6.1 degrees due to which a major portion of the famed Dal Lake was frozen this morning.

Bone chilling cold with a very blustery wind made the weather all the much colder in the entire Valley.

People shivered in the biting cold and as the temperature went below the freezing point, water pipes in several areas got jammed.

The weather office said the chill was likely to continue for some more days.

UNI