Saturday, January 14 2006 12:21 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Kashmir Valley remained under an unrelenting chilly spell with the Dal Lake frozen while four more people perished due to the cold in Uttar Pradesh, raising the countrywide death count to 185, even as the weather eased and the sun came out strong in most of north India yesterday (Jan 13, 2006).

One death each was reported overnight from Barabanki, Kushinagar, Deoria and Ballia districts to total 149 this season in UP. There was a slight respite from the biting cold of the past week as the mercury registered an increase, but it was still 4-6 degrees below normal at several places.

The sun moved towards the Tropic of Cancer and clothed the people of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh in warmth on the festive occasion of 'Lohri' and 'Makar Sakranti' but was hidden by clouds in the Kashmir Valley.

Weather officials were apprehensive about the Dal Lake freezing entirely as day temperatures slumped even though the minimum upped to minus 4.2 degrees Celsius (3 below normal).

Water supply in Srinagar and the rest of the Valley was disrupted as taps, rivers, lakes and streams had frozen.

After a long wait, Delhi woke to a normal winter's day and warm sunny weather, recording 7 C (normal).

There were no early morning flight delays due to fog and trains ran more or less on schedule in the entire region, airlines and railways officials said.

There was also a marked improvement in Bihar with Patna recording 7.8 C. Government and private primary and secondary schools closed due to the cold were expected to reopen on Monday.