Chandigarh: Chandigarh experienced the coldest day of the season so far Wednesday and shivered under a thick blanket of fog that enveloped the union territory and the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana throughout the day.

Dense fog reduced the visibility to below 1,000 metres even during the daytime. The fog cover did not lift till forenoon Wednesday. People got some respite in the afternoon when there was a mild sunshine for a while but again foggy conditions started in the region by 4 p.m. "Wednesday was the coldest day of the season with the maximum temperature touching 14.6 degrees Celsius, that is 1.4 degrees Celsius lower than Tuesday.

Temperature anywhere below 16 degrees Celsius is considered to be the cold-day conditions," Chatar Singh Malik, director of meteorological department, Chandigarh, told IANS. At present foggy weather condition exists all over the region but it will start improving in the next three-four days after a spell of rain and snowfall, said Malik. "Isolated snowfall is expected in some parts of the neighbouring Himachal Pradesh Jan 3 or Jan 4 and moderate to heavy rainfall is expected in Punjab and Haryana Jan 5 or Jan 6," said Malik.

Many flights and trains were delayed owing to the fog cover. Motorists in the region had a tough time driving to work. Amritsar district in Punjab was the coldest region in the north Indian plains with a morning minimum temperature of 2 degrees Celsius.

Source : IANS