North India continued to reel under intense cold on December 29 as the Haryana government decided to close schools for two days and reduced visibility due to dense fog affected the movement of flights and trains at several places.
In Haryana, where the minimum temperatures have been hovering close to the freezing point at some places, the state government has decided to close schools on December 30 and 31, an official statement said. “Thereafter, between January 1 to January 15, 2020, all schools in the state will remain closed on account of winter holidays,” it said.
The day temperatures in Haryana have been settling in the range of 10-13℃ at most places. The Met department said severe cold will continue unabated over the next couple of days in Haryana and Punjab.
Dry weather persisted in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday while cold wave intensified in most parts of the state, the Met office said. According to the meteorological department, rain is likely to lash eastern and western parts of the state on Tuesday and January 1, 2020. Moderate to dense fog occurred at many places with very dense fog occurring at isolated places over the state, the department said.
Lucknow recorded a low of 6.9 degrees Celsius. Considering the weather conditions, District Magistrate Abhishek Prakash ordered that schools would remain closed for students of pre-primary to Class 8 till December 31, while Class 9-12 would be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Weather is most likely to remain dry and cold, while shallow to moderate fog is very likely at few places over the state on Monday, the department stated. Rain is very likely at isolated places over western Uttar Pradesh and weather is most likely to remain dry over eastern Uttar Pradesh on December 31.
