Vehicles ply at a snow-covered road in Kufri near Shimla. (PTI photo)

NEW DELHI: Cold wave tightened its grip on northern states on Thursday as the mercury continued its downward spiral with the national capital recording its lowest temperature of the season.

Most parts of Himachal Pradesh witnessed dry and overcast conditions with Keylong at -12° Celsius recording the lowest temperature in the sate.

Delhi recorded the coldest day of the season with the minimum temperature settling at 5.2° Celsius, three notches below normal.

The maximum temperature was recorded at 15° Celsius, seven notches below normal, an official of the meteorological department said.

The meteorological department has predicted heavy rain and snowfall in Himachal till December 21.

The minimum temperature in Kalpa of Kinnaur district was -1.2° Celsius.

The minimum temperature in Manali was 1° Celsius, followed by Kufri which recorded 2.4° Celsius.

Shimla and Dalhousie recorded 6.5° Celsius each.

The minimum temperature in Solan was 1.2°, followed by Dharamshala at 2.1° Celsius, Bhuntar and Mandi 2.4° Celsius each,the weatherman said.

In neighbouring Haryana, Narnaul reeled at 3.5° Celsius, two degrees below normal, as biting cold continued to sweep the state.

Fog also reduced visibility in the morning at many places in the Haryana and Punjab, a Meteorological Department official said here.

As cold weather conditions persisted, Hisar recorded a low of 4.1 degrees, three notches below normal. Karnal recorded a low of 4.6° Celsius, down four notches.

Ambala recorded a low of 7.4° Celsius while Rohtak and Bhiwani also experienced a cold night at 5.6° Celsius and 6.2° Celsius respectively.

In Punjab, Patiala recorded a low of 5.5°, down two notches against normal limits while Bathinda shivered at a low of 5.8° Celsius.

Ludhiana (7), Gurdaspur (6.4), Halwara (6.1), Faridkot (6) and Adampur (6.2) too experienced cold weather conditions.

However, Amritsar and Pathankot's minimum settled above normal limits at 8° Celsius and 9.9° Celsius respectively.

Union territory Chandigarh recorded a minimum of 9.9° Celsius.

Cold wave conditions also prevailed in Rajasthan with Vanasthali in Tonk recording the lowest minimum temperature in the state at 4.4° Celsius.

Pilani registered a low of 4.7° Celsius while Bhilwara and Churu both shivered at 5.4° Celsius, the meteorological department said.

Sawaimadhopur, Chittorgarh, Ganganagar and Jaipur registered night temperature of 5.8° Celsius, 6° Celsius, 6.6° Celsius and 7° Celsius respectively.

Bikaner, Phalodi and Barmer also recorded minimum temperature of 8.4° Celsius, 10° Celsius and 11.4° Celsius respectively.

However, the minimum temperature across Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh increased by several degrees amid overcast conditions, providing relief to the people from the piercing cold, even as the MeT department has forecast scattered rain or snow during the next 48 hours.

The weather remained mostly dry and cold in all the three regions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh overnight but the minimum temperature witnessed an increase of one to 13 notches due to heavy cloud cover.

"There is a possibility of light snow or rains at scattered places in Jammu and Kashmir today (Thursday) and tomorrow (Friday). After that the weather is likely to remain mainly dry till December end," an official of the Meteorological Department said.

Drass was the coldest recorded place in Ladakh with a low of minus 14.4° Celsius, the official said.

After witnessing the season's coldest night at 4.8 degrees Celsius, Jammu saw an increase of almost four degrees in the minimum temperature which settled at 8.6 degrees Celsius, the official said.

Srinagar recorded a low of minus 2.3° Celsius, while the famous ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir was the coldest recorded place in the valley with a minimum of 7.2° Celsius despite marking an increase of over four degrees.

Pahalgam hill resort in south Kashmir was freezing at minus 4.9° Celsius.

In Jammu region, Banihal in Ramban and Bhaderwah in Doda district were reeling under sub-zero temperature with a minimum of -2.2 and -2.0° Celsius respectively, he said.

Katra, the base camp for the pilgrims visiting Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi district, registered a night temperature of 5.0° Celsius, slightly up from the previous night's 4.6° Celsius, he added.

