Cold eases marginally in North as the new year begins

Cold wave, gripping north India, relented marginally with mercury inching upwards on the first day of 2012 even as rains drenched several parts of the region ushering in a wet New Year.

Kashmir Valley, however, reeled under the bone-chilling cold as summer capital Srinagar and scenic Gulmarg froze in sub-zero temperatures, the MeT Dept said.

Tourists and locals witnessed a white New Year in parts of Himachal Pradesh as Kufri, Fagu, Wild Flower Hall and Narkanda received snowflakes in the early hours.

Snowfall, however, eluded state capital Shimla to the utter disappointment of thousands of tourists who had thronged the city.

Delhiites woke up to clear skies as the minimum temperature rose to 8.4 deg C, up by a notch while the maximum settled at 19.5 degrees, the MeT office said.

The city received light rains in some areas in the evening, it said.

Minimum temperatures rose by a few notches in several parts of the north, including Punjab and Haryana, providing slight relief to the people from the bitter cold which has so far claimed 135 lives across the country this winter.

Holy town Amritsar, where severe chill had persisted during the past few days, registered a low of 2.8 deg C, which was within the normal range.

Temperatures rose in other parts of Punjab where Ludhiana and Patiala recorded respective lows of five deg C and six deg C, both the readings a degree above normal.

In Haryana, Ambala recorded a low of 6.8 deg C, up by a notch. Hisar had a low of 6.1 deg C, also up by a degree. Karnal's low rose by two notches to settle at 7.3 deg C, the weather office said.

Thundershowers drenched large parts of Uttar Pradesh with Fatehgarh and Hamirpur each receiving three cms of rains, the MeT Dept said.

Aligarh and Taj City Agra each recorded two cms of rains as hailstorms were reported from some parts of the state. Etawah was the coldest zone in the state recording a low of 4.1 degrees Celsius.