The cold wave across North India abated slightly with mercury rising by a few notches today even as 17 more people died, raising the toll this winter to 425.
All the fresh deaths were reported from Uttar Pradesh which alone accounted for 396 of the total casualties so far.
A dense fog engulfed Delhi, Punjab and Haryana throwing flight and train schedules haywire. Most trains bound for Amritsar, Pathankot and Chandigarh ran several hours behind schedule on account of foggy conditions.
Flight operations at Chandigarh airport were affected as the visibility dropped considerably.
Amritsar in Punjab was coldest in the region recording a night temperature of 1.4 Celsius, three notches below normal.
However, the minimum rose by several notches in many places in the region. Karnal recorded a low of 3.5 degree Celsius, two notches above normal, and Chandigarh 5.6 C, two degrees above normal.
A thick blanket of fog descended on the national capital in the wee hours today, dipping runway visibility to around 125 m at the IGI airport.
As many as 30 domestic and international flights were disrupted this morning causing inconvenience to passengers. Rail traffic was also disrupted. The minimum temperature was recorded at 7.7 degrees, same as yesterday, but the maximum climbed to 20.6 C as against yesterday's 17.5 C.
Meanwhile, people of Jammu and Kashmir had some relief from severe cold conditions as the night temperature rose by a few notches in several parts of the state.
