old wave continues to grip N. India;flights and trains cancelled due to dense fog

Jan 1,  2:39 PM North India continues to remain in the grip of a cold wave.The national capital ushered in the New Year with bone chilling and dense fog today as the mercury dipped to the season's lowest of four degree Celsius, three notches below average. The day's maximum temperature is likely to touch 14 degree Celsius. Dense fog enveloped the city in the morning hours affecting road, rail and air traffic. 21 flights and 12 trains were cancelled while as 39 trains were running late by several hours. The maximum temperature yesterday stood at 13.3 degree Celsius, seven degrees below normal while as the minimum was 5.5 degrees Celsius, two notches below average for this time of the season. Uttar Pradesh is still in the grip of an intense cold wave. Some districts registered a slightly higher day temperature as the sun appeared in a few districts of Gorakhpur, Varanasi and Allahabad divisions. Muzaffarnagar remained the coldest place where the minimum temperature was recorded at 4 degrees Celsius. There is clear sky in these districts but the met office has predicted fog and chilly wind during the next twenty four hours. It says weather would be dry across the state. The death toll due to the cold wave has mounted to 97.