The cold tightened its grip over Himachal Pradesh on Thursday as the state's higher reaches had a fresh spell of snow, while the lower hills received rainfall. The weather office has forecast more snow and rain till Sunday.

Shimla recorded a minimum temperature of 5.7 degrees Celsius.

"The high hills in Lahaul and Spiti, Kinnaur, Kullu and Chamba districts have been experiencing light to moderate snowfall since Wednesday night," said a weather department official.

Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district was the coldest place in the state where mercury plummeted to 3.4 degrees Celsius below the freezing point. The town recorded three cm of snowfall.

Kalpa in Kinnaur district, which recorded 3.6 cm of snow, saw a low of 0.2 degree Celsius, while it was two degrees Celsius in Manali and 9.8 degrees Celsius in Dharamsala.

Manali recorded 24 mm of rain, while its nearby tourist resort Kothi saw five cm of snow.