Cold wave: Delhi shivers, people die in UP, Rajasthan, Haryana too hit

Delhi experienced a cold wave on Friday for the second day in a row, according to data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the minimum temperature at Ayanagar in southwest Delhi dropped to a chilling 1.8 degrees Celsius.

According to IMD, Safdarjung recorded a minimum temperature of 4.0°C while Delhi Ridge recorded 3.3°C. Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of three degrees Celsius on Thursday, the lowest in January in two years, making it colder than numerous hill areas.

At least 26 trains were delayed by one to 10 hours due to the foggy weather, a Railways spokesperson said.

The main meteorological station in Delhi, the Safdarjung observatory, recorded a minimum temperature of four degrees Celsius on Friday, compared to three degrees on Thursday, 4.4 degrees on Wednesday, and 8.5 degrees on Tuesday.

As  Uttar Pradesh battles a cold wave,  at least 25 people passed away from heart attacks and brain strokes on January 5 in the state. The abrupt rise in blood pressure brought on by the cold and blood clotting that causes heart attacks and brain attacks, according to the experts, caused the death. It is predicted that Uttar Pradesh will see chilly waves to extremely cold days with dense to very dense fog until January 7, 2023.

 In numerous locations throughout Rajasthan, “ground frosting conditions” were predicted by the weather forecast over the ensuing 24 hours. While Churu and Sikar continue to record below-freezing minimum temperatures, a “orange alert” was issued in numerous districts, including Alwar, Bharatpur, Dholpur, Jhunjhunu, and Karauli. Due to the extreme cold, numerous districts have decided to close their schools until January 15.

For Punjab and Haryana, cold wave conditions will prevail in many places during the next 24 hours while in other parts, cold to severe cold day weather is likely over the next two days. News agency ANI spoke to the common people in Bathinda which recorded a low of 3 degrees Celsius yesterday.

The meteorological office has also forecast that the Jammu division would continue to experience extreme cold wave conditions for the next 24 hours. On Wednesday night, Pahalgam in the Anantnag district registered minus 9.2 degrees Celsius, the union territory’s coldest temperature to date. The location also serves as the starting point for the yearly Amarnath Yatra. With minus 6.4 degrees Celsius, the capital city of Srinagar has experienced the coldest night of the year thus far.