A cold wave has gripped all of northern India, with some major cities witnessing intense fog and the capital New Delhi left shivering as the minimum temperature dipped to 3.4 degrees Celsius as per the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).
"The observatory recorded a minimum of 3.4 degrees Celsius, five notches below normal, on Sunday morning. The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 22 degrees Celsius", an IMD official told the news agency Press Trust of India.
The official added that the mercury had dipped as icy winds from the snow-laden Western Himalayas barrelled through the city.
Visuals from Delhi showed people sitting around small bonfires.
The situation is the same elsewhere in the area. Major northern Indian cities like Prayagraj and Varanasi also witnessed cold conditions, with a sheet of dense fog enveloping the two cities.
Apart from Prayagraj and Varanasi, other cities like Gorakhpur, Ayodhya, Bareilly, Moradabad, Lucknow, and Jhansi too recorded below normal temperature.
Indian state of rajasthan too witnessed cold conditions.