Cold Wave in India : Cold wave continued to grip many parts of North and East India on Tuesday. Minimum temperatures dropped several degrees below freezing point in some parts of Kashmir, while Kanke in Jharkhand recorded a minimum temperature of 2.5 degrees Celsius. Officials said Srinagar recorded a minimum temperature of minus 5.3 degrees Celsius on Tuesday. Due to the cold, water supply pipelines have frozen in many parts of the city and some places in the valley.

Kashmir records sub-zero temperatures

Gulmarg recorded a minimum temperature of minus 4 degrees Celsius, while Pahalgam recorded a low of minus 6.8 degrees Celsius. Konibal Valley on the outskirts of Pampore experienced the coldest day at minus 8.5 degrees Celsius, officials said. Qazigund recorded a low of minus 6 degrees Celsius, Kupwara minus 5.6 degrees Celsius and Kokernag minus 5.7 degrees Celsius.

snowfall in hilly areas

The weather department has forecast mainly dry weather till December 26 with light snowfall likely in the higher reaches of the valley on the intervening night of December 21-22. The local weather office in Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday issued a 'yellow alert' for cold wave conditions at isolated places in the lower hills and plains of four districts for the next two days. The weather department said cold wave is likely to continue at isolated places in Una, Bilaspur, Hamirpur and Mandi districts.

Temperatures broke records in Delhi-Punjab

On Tuesday, Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 5.9 degrees Celsius, 2.2 degrees below normal, while the maximum temperature was 24.4 degrees Celsius. After Faridkot, Amritsar was the coldest place in Punjab with a minimum temperature of 2.6 degrees Celsius, while Ludhiana and Patiala both recorded a minimum temperature of 4.8 degrees Celsius. Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, recorded a minimum temperature of 6.6 degrees Celsius.

Most places in Jharkhand recorded minimum temperatures below 10 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, with Kanke being the coldest in the state at 2.5 degrees Celsius.