Kashmir Valley witnessed a bone-chilling first day of the year as the minimum temperature dropped several degrees below freezing point in many areas on Monday.
In a press conference on Monday, the Director General of Meteorology, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said that the above-normal maximum temperatures are likely over most parts of peninsular and North East India.
As the cold wave tightened its grip on northern India, the air quality dipped to the 'severe' category on the last day of the year, according to the Central Pollution Control Board data on Sunday.
As the icy chill prevailed in the North Indian belt, the India Metrological Department (IMD) on Saturday recorded minimum temperatures in the range of 7-10°C over most parts of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, UP and north Rajasthan.
The winter chill continues to grip North India, as cities such as Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, Jaipur in Rajasthan and Sambalpur in Odisha faced cold waves, engulfed in dense fog on Saturday morning.
Cold weather conditions along with moderate fog prevailed in many regions of the Delhi-NCR on Saturday. The minimum temperature recorded in the national capital was 10.7 degrees Celsius.
UPSRTC officials said that buses should not operate in case of poor visibility due to fog. The corporation also advised operators to park buses at safe locations and wait until visibility improves.
China's Beijing recorded the longest cold wave since records began in 1951 as the freezing temperature and snowfall experienced in the Chinese capital and elsewhere began to ease, CNN reported.