Cold wave sweeps Himachal Pradesh; Rain adds to miseries in UP

, Jan 9: A cold wave swept

Thursday, with its higher reaches freezing in sub-zero temperatures.

Keylong, headquarters of Lahaul and Spiti, was the coldest with a minimum temperature of minus 5.1 degrees Celsius. It also saw 9 cm snow in the past 24 hours.

Cold conditions continued in Uttar Pradesh as many areas received rainfall

Kalpa in Kinnaur district touched a low of minus 3 degrees Celsius, while it was the freezing point in Manali, 0.7 degree in Shimla and 5.6 degrees in Dharamsala, an official of the meteorological office here told IANS.

The Rohtang Pass (13,050 ft) and the Baralacha Pass (16,020 ft) - located on the Manali-Leh highway - received heavy snowfall.

The resort town of Kalpa, some 250 km from the state capital, recorded 15 cm snow, while Manali experienced 20.2 mm rain.

The entire tribal belt in Kinnaur, Lahaul and Spiti, Kullu, Sirmaur and Chamba districts witnessed heavy snowfall in the past two days, he said.

He said the western disturbances - storm systems originating from Caspian Sea and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region - are likely to remain active in the region Jan 10.

Cold conditions continued in Uttar Pradesh Thursday as many areas received rainfall. The temperature in state capital Lucknow Wednesday night was 3 degrees celsius, while it slumped to sub-zero level in Kanpur.

Residents of the state capital Thursday woke up to a cloudy morning and rains. The Met Office attributed the rains to a Western Disturbance and said that the rain could stay on for a while.

The visibility on highways also dashed to less than 100 metres, forcing many motorists to abort travel plans. Hundreds of passengers were stranded at railway stations, bus stands and the airport here.

According to railway officials, more than 30 trains were delayed. Airport officials said the three flights in the morning were also delayed. Three flights were cancelled Wednesday.

IANS