In Race for Chill Marathon, Delhi Records Coldest December Day in 119 Yrs; Rajasthan, Punjab Catch Up with 0 Degrees

New Delhi: Delhi is likely to experience its coldest day in December in 119 years on Monday with the day temperature recording 9.4 degrees Celsius, the India Meteorological Department said.

The temperature recorded by the Safdurjung laboratory at 2:30 pm was 9.4 degrees Celsius.

"Delhi likely to record most coldest day today in last 119 year for Dec Month as day temp till 1430 IST of today has been unusually (cold) following a coldest trend with Safdarjung at 1430 IST has 09.4 deg C," the IMD tweeted.

A man looks at icicles hanging from a bridge after snowfall at Tangmarg near Srinagar.

Severe cold conditions continued to prevail in Rajasthan with Sikar district of the state recording the minimum temperature at minus 0.5 degree Celsius, the meteorological department said.

Meanwhile, Haryana and Punjab also remained under the grip of severe cold wave with temperatures hovering well below normal limits.

Fog also continued to engulf most places in Haryana and Punjab, reducing visibility levels in the morning.

Faridkot in Punjab was the coldest place in the state, recording a minimum temperature of 0.7 degrees Celsius, six notches below normal limits.

Among other places in Punjab, freezing cold swept Amritsar, which recorded a low of 1.2 deg C, Ludhiana, Patiala and Gurdaspur recorded near similar below normal minimums at 4.6, 4.5 and 4.2 degrees Celsius.

Halwara braved the chill at a low of 1.5 deg C. Bathinda experienced a cold night at 3.8 deg C while Pathankot's minimum settled at 3.4 deg C, a Meteorological Department official said here.

Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, was also under the grip of biting chill. The minimum here settled at 3.5 deg C.

In Haryana, Rohtak was the coldest place recording a low of 1.2 deg C.

Ambala, Hisar, Karnal, Narnaul, Bhiwani and Sirsa were also swept by piercing chill recording respective lows of 2.7 deg C, 3.6 deg C, 2.8 deg C, 1.5 deg C, 2.8 deg C and 2.7 degrees Celsius.

The maximum temperatures in the two states including Chandigarh have for the last over a week hovered several notches below normal and settling in the range of 8-12 degrees Celsius.