Cold conditions prevail in North India

North India experienced cold conditions today with rain and thundershower occurring in some parts of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, even as fog affected road and rail traffic. In the national capital, day temperature settled at 15.7 degrees Celsius, two notches below normal, while foggy conditions led to cancellation of 51 trains. While flight operations were reported to be normal, 19 Delhi-bound trains were running behind schedule. "The maximum and minimum temperature today settled at 15.7 degrees Celsius, two notches below normal and 8.9 degrees Celsius, a notch above normal," a MeT official said. According to Northern Railway, 19 Delhi-bound trains including premier services like Howrah-New Delhi Duronto Express, Sealdah Duronto and Kanpur Shatabdi were running late by several hours due to bad weather condition. There were cancellations of total 51 trains including those announced earlier. In Uttar Pradesh, light to moderate rain and thundershower occurred in some parts while night temperature rose in various places. Nazibabad recorded UP's lowest minimum temperature at 4.5 degrees Celsius. The first rain of the season brought cheer to the farmers of the state who hoped that the showers would benefit their crops. Mehrauni recorded 2 cm of rain and Lalitpur and Atara 1 cm each. Moderate to dense fog occurred at isolated places, affecting road and rail traffic. In view of rain, the administration in state capital Lucknow ordered closure of all schools up to class VI till January 23rd while classes above VI will start after 9 am. In Amethi, all basic schools have been closed till January 21 and secondary schools to start from 10am. Meanwhile, bright winter sun provided much needed relief to the residents of Kashmir division where night temperature improved slightly but continued to stay below the freezing point. The minimum temperature in Jammu and Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar marked an increase of almost two degrees to settle at minus 2.3 degrees Celsius. After yesterday's overcast conditions, the sun shone bright this morning, providing relief to the residents from the bone chilling cold and paving way for resumption of normal activities early in the day.