At 3.6°C, capital records coldest Dec day in 4 yrs

New Delhi: A cold wave continues across North India on Wednesday morning, with the minimum temperature dipping to 3.6 degrees Celsius in New Delhi, the lowest this winter, the met office said.

The national capital has been experiencing a cold wave for the past few days. On December 23, the city had recorded a temperature of 3.7 degrees Celsius, its lowest in December in 12 years. The temperature is expected to dip to 3 degrees Celsius after December 28. The capital has also been hit by severe air pollution once again, during the cold wave.

“The minimum temperature was recorded at 3.6 degree Celsius, four notches below the season’s average. It is the lowest temperature recorded so far this year,” it said.

The weatherman has predicted clear skies throughout the day on Wednesday and the maximum temperature is expected to hover around 20 degrees Celsius.

According to the met department, humidity level recorded at 8.30 am was 97 per cent. On Tuesday, the minimum temperature had settled at 5 degrees Celsius.

Eleven trains were cancelled, two trains were partially cancelled and the frequency of six trains were reduced on Wednesday due to foggy weather conditions, a Northern Railway spokesperson said. A total of 316 trains were affected on Christmas morning due to bad weather conditions, he said.  

The trains starting from Delhi, including the Lucknow-New Delhi Gomti Express, Lucknow Junction-Meerut city express and Howrah-Anand Vihar Express, were cancelled Wednesday, the spokesperson added.

The cold wave also intensified in Jammu and Kashmir, with Jammu city recording the season’s coldest night at 3.5 degrees Celsius.

In Ladakh, the temperature dropped several degrees below the freezing point, with Leh recording minus 17.1 and Kargil minus 14.4. The mercury dropped to minus 6.7 degrees in Srinagar — the coldest night in 11 years — while temperatures of minus 7.9 and minus 9.4 degrees Celsius were recorded in Pahalgam and ski resort of Gulmarg.

In Keylong, the administrative centre of Himachal Pradesh’s Lahaul and Spiti district, the minimum temperature fell to minus 11.1 degrees Celsius, said Shimla met centre director Manmohan Singh.  Manali, Solan, Chamba, Kalpa, Seobagh, Sundernagar and Bhuntar also experienced sub-zero temperatures, he added.