Cold continues to sweep northern India
New Delhi: Cold conditions persisted in northern India as rains soaked several areas in the region and snowfall was recorded in Kashmir and Ladakh.
Most parts of the Kashmir valley received snowfall overnight. Low visibility and accumulation of snow at the Srinagar airport led to cancellation of 15 flights on Thursday morning, officials said.
Flight operations have been affected at the airport for the past few days. All flights were cancelled on January 12 and 13, but few operated on January 14. However, flight operations did not take place on Wednesday as well due to continued snowfall.
Most plain areas in the valley received moderate to heavy snowfall on Wednesday which continued during the night, a MET official said.
He said the higher reaches of the valley, Jammu region and Ladakh Union Territory received heavy snowfall.
He said there are chances of light snowfall at isolated to scattered places of J-K over the next 24 hours.
"No major snowfall is expected for the next five days. Another spell of lesser intensity is likely from January 21 to 24," he added.
Cold weather persisted in most parts of Punjab and Haryana and a thick blanket of fog reduced visibility in the morning, affecting normal life.
In Punjab, Amritsar was the coldest place with a minimum temperature of 3.4 degrees Celsius.
Ludhiana shivered at 7.1 degrees Celsius, Patiala at 7.6 degrees, Adampur recorded 6.9 degrees Celsius, Halwara 4.7 degrees, Bathinda 5.4 degrees, Faridkot six degrees and Gurdaspur at 7.3 degrees Celsius also registered below normal minimum temperature, a MeT Department official said.
In Haryana, Ambala recorded a minimum of 6.9 degrees Celsius, Hisar 5.5 degrees, Karnal 8 degrees, Narnaul 7.5 degrees, Rohtak 8 degrees, Bhiwani 6.1 degrees and Sirsa 4.4 degrees Celsius.
Chandigarh registered a night temperature of 7.6 degrees Celsius.
Several places in western Uttar Pradesh and a few places in eastern parts of the state witnessed light to moderate rain.
According to MeT Department, isolated places in eastern parts of the state witnessed a very dense fog and cold conditions prevailed in isolated places of western UP.
Rainfall was recorded in Barabanki, Kanpur, Lucknow, Unnao, Gonda, Hardoi, Etawah, Jalaun, Jhansi, Bijnor, Hapur, Mainpuri, Aurraiya, Sitapur, Fatehgarh, Baharich, Bulandshahr, Firozabad and Hamirpur.
A dense fog is very likely at isolated places of western Uttar Pradesh on Friday, while rain or thundershowers are very likely at isolated places over the state on Saturday, the MeT department said.
The weather is most likely to remain dry and a shallow to moderate fog is very likely at a few places over the state on Sunday, it added.
