After nearly one month the minimum temperature on Thursday rose above the freezing point in Srinagar and many places in Kashmir.

Mughal Road in Poonch closed for vehicular traffic movement following a snowfall in the region.

With the dip in temperature, people lit bonfires to keep themselves warm. Meanwhile, Delhi's Lodhi Road recorded a minimum of 5.8 degree Celcius while Safdarjung recorded 5.5 on Thursday.

Sonam Lotus, director of the MeT department said, "As expected, there is a significant rise in minimum temperature by 4-5 degree Celsius in J&K and Ladakh.

"Light Snow also reported at isolated places of Kashmir."

The minimum temperature was 2.6 degrees Celsius in Srinagar while it was 0.3 in Pahalgam and minus 3.7 in Gulmarg.

Light snowfall occurred Thursday morning in Gulmarg and Tangmarg while light rain lashed the plains in the Valley.

Drass town of Ladakh had minus 9.6, Leh minus 7.8 and Kargil minus 6.1 as the night's lowest temperature.

Jammu city had 9.3, Katra 8.8, Batote 5.4, Banihal 3.0 and Bhaderwah 4.6 as the minimum.

Weather office has forecast moderate to heavy rain/snow in the Valley and Ladakh on December 27.

A shallow blanket of fog engulfed Delhi and its surrounding areas on Thursday morning with temperatures recording less than six degrees celcius.

"Today's fog condition is worse compared to other days. I hope the situation gets better", said a local Rakesh.

"This year we feel the chill is more as compared to the previous years. We are lighting bonfires to keep ourselves warm", said Munnilal Verma, another resident.

While the air quality in Delhi remains in 'very poor' category with an overall Air Index Quality (AQI) at 387.

According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting Research (SAFAR), the concentration of PM 2.5 and PM 10 stands at 'very poor' category. "Air pollution is a problem. We tend to develop breathing trouble", said a morning walker.

As cold wave conditions have gripped North India, the authorities of Lucknow's Nawab Wajid Ali Shah Zoological Garden have taken precautionary measures to help zoo inmates survive the cold spell.

"As winter sets in, we start giving more nutrition-rich food to animals & make arrangements for them to cope up with the cold weather," said Lucknow Zoo Deputy Director Utkarsh Shukla on Tuesday. The authorities have installed heaters for pythons to keep them warm in the freezing months. Other animals have also got blankets. On Tuesday, Lucknow recorded a minimum of 8 degrees Celsius.

(With inputs from all agencies)

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