Winter chill has gripped many parts of the northern, western and central parts of the country that have been bearing most of the brunt of the biting cold weather conditions.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that the chill in the air is expected to continue for the next two to three days due to north-westerly winds are prevailing over the entire Delhi-NCR region

The cold wave continued to grip Delhi, NCR region as well as Maharashtra on Sunday, with temperatures in the coastal State dropping significantly, breaking records of at least 10 years.

Normal life was affected due to intense cold in the valley and the Ladakh region as the temperature dropped several notches below the freezing point.

Due to cloud cover, the minimum temperature across Jammu and Kashmir improved on Sunday. Meanwhile the minimum temperature was recorded 3 degrees Celsius at Safdarjung Observatory on Sunday, four notches below the season's average while the maximum temperature recorded 22.9 degrees Celsius.

Due to availability of little moisture and moderate to dense fog during the early morning hours, places such as Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Ghaziabad are likely to experience poor visibility conditions. The IMD also predicted moderate fog for the next three to four days over the northern plains and the northeastern states of the country.

Against Saturday's minus 7.2 degree Celsius, the minimum temperature in Srinagar was minus 2.4 degree Celsius on Sunday. Similarly, in Pahalgam and Gulmarg also, Sunday's minimum temperature was minus 2.5 degree Celsius and minus 4 degree Celsius respectively, against Saturday's minus 8.3 degree and minus 7 degree.

Leh also recorded improvement in night temperature from Saturday's minus 17.5 degree Celsius to minus 12.2 degree Celsius on Sunday. Drass recorded minus 12.8 degree Celsius as the minimum temperature against Saturday's minus 21.1 degree Celsius. The minimum temperature in Jammu was 6.5 degrees Celsius against Saturday's 3.1 degrees Celsius. Elsewhere, Katra recorded 6.6 degrees, Batote 3.4 degrees, Bannihal 1.8 degrees and Bhaderwah 0.3 degree as the night's lowest temperatures.

The Saturday was the coldest day of the season of Delhi as the minimum touched 2.6 degree Celsius, four notches below the season's average.  In Delhi and NCR areas, the weather is governed by the western disturbances over the hills of North India during winter. "However, as this year most western disturbances moving across the higher latitudes i.e. northern parts of Jammu and Kashmir are feeble in nature, thus, the wind pattern over the city is not changing," the Skymet weather said.

Normal life was affected due to cold conditions prevailing in Ajmer, Kota and Udaipur divisions of Rajasthan.  Bhilwara recorded 0.6 degree Celsius followed by Alwar (0.8), Mount Abu (1.0), Fatehpur (1.2), Chittorgarh (2.5), Churu (2.9), 3.4 each in Udaipur and Banasthali, Sikar (3.5), Sriganganagar (4.2), Pilani (4.3), Eranpura road (4.6), 5.0 each in Sawai Madhopur and Jaipur, Kota (5.3), Ajmer (6.6), Jodhpur (7.3), 9.5 each in Barmer and Bikaner, Jaisalmer (9.6) and 11 degrees Celsius in Phalodi.

Khajurao in Madhya Pradesh also recorded one degree Celsius. The cold wave also swept over parts of Maharashtra and Vidarbha on Saturday, with as many as five locations in the state, including Pune, breaking a 10-year record of minimum temperatures. Meanwhile, in the presence of seasonal pattern, dry and cold winds are blowing over entire Maharashtra. Moreover, continuously falling temperatures, have resulted in cold wave conditions in pockets of Vidarbha and Madhya Maharashtra. However, a slight change in wind pattern is expected in the coming days. As a result, a marginal increase in minimums is expected.

According to Met Department, dip in maximum and minimum temperatures prevailed in most of north, central and western India due to northwesterly wind movement that brought cold wave conditions.  Cold wave conditions intensified in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar pradesh.

Moreover, many places have been experiencing moderate to dense fog during early morning hours. However, days are being felt as pleasant due to bright sunshine persisting over entire area.  In general, weather pattern during winter season over northwestern plains of the country is mainly governed by different western disturbances. At present, western disturbances that have been affecting Jammu & Kashmir are weak in nature.