The weather is set to turn murkier for the plains of northwest India next week as forecasts suggest the possibility of severe cold gripping the region.

Several places in north India, including Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, recorded their minimum temperature below the five-degree Celsius mark on Sunday. The India Meteorological Department has forecast severe cold wave in parts of the region later this week and warning of dense fog.

The IMD on Sunday said the “cold wave” to “severe cold wave” conditions are also likely over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi on December 28 and 29 and over North Rajasthan on December 29 and 30 and also in isolated pockets over Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh due to consequent strengthening of cold and dry northwesterly and northerly lower level winds.

Delhi, whose minimum temperature has been hovering around 4 to 5 degrees Celsius this week, is likely to witness mercury levels fall below 3 degrees Celsius by the end of December. In Delhi, December temperatures have fallen to the lowest low of around 2.5 degrees Celsius in the past two years in the last week of December. From 2015 to 2017, the mercury levels never dropped below five-degree Celsius in December. This year, the prevailing strong La Niña conditions over the Pacific Ocean are said to be the major driver behind the ongoing colder-than-normal winter.

For declaring the cold day or severe cold day, the IMD considers the wind chill factor — the effective minimum temperature due to wind flow. The cold wave conditions are associated with the fall of minimum temperature much below normal and are usually less than 10 degrees Celsius and the maximum temperature is 4.5 degrees Celsius or 6.4 degrees Celsius below normal.

A cold wave occurs in plains when the minimum temperature is 10 degrees Celsius or below, and is 4.5 notches lesser than the season’s normal for two consecutive days. In the winter season, the cold wave conditions prevail mainly along the Indo-Gangetic Plains.

“A western disturbance has approached North India this weekend and is likely to continue causing widespread rain and snowfall across Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, and isolated parts of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Haryana till Monday. As the system moves on, cold and dry northwesterly winds are likely to strengthen at lower levels across the plains of northwest India from Tuesday onwards,” the IMD said.

The IMD has also forecasted that ‘Ground Frost’ conditions are likely in isolated pockets over Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Rajasthan and West Madhya Pradesh during December 29-31 whereas cold day conditions are likely over Punjab during next 24 hours. “Dense to very dense fog are likely to occur over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi in morning hours and dense fog also likely over Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh in morning hours during on December 29-31.

Biting cold conditions persisted in Haryana and Punjab with Gurdaspur reeling at a minimum temperature of 2 degrees Celsius. Gurdaspur was the coldest place in Punjab, while Narnaul, at a low of 3.3 degrees Celsius, was Haryana’s coldest place. In Punjab, Pathankot, Halwara and Faridkot recorded a low of 3.7 degrees Celsius, 5.7 degrees Celsius and 4.6 degrees Celsius. Himachal Pradesh’s Keylong, Kalpa, Manali, Mandi, Solan, Sundernagar and Bhuntar shivered at sub-zero temperatures.

The cold wave intensified in Kashmir with the minimum temperature dropping across the Valley to stay several notches below the freezing point on Sunday. The weather has remained dry and cold across Kashmir since the snowfall on December 12, with the night temperature staying several degrees below the freezing point. The MeT office has forecast light rain or snow in the Kashmir Valley over the next three days. The officials said Srinagar - the summer capital of Jammu & Kashmir - recorded a low of minus 5.2 degrees Celsius - down from the previous night’s minus 3.7 degrees Celsius. Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded a low of minus 7.2 degrees Celsius - down from minus 6.5 degrees Celsius the previous night. It was the coldest recorded place in the Valley.

Churk in Sonbhadra district in UP, was the coldest place with a minimum temperature of 2.6 degrees Celsius. Northern parts of Saurashtra and Kutch is also likely to experience cold wave conditions on December 28-29. Mount Abu, the only hill station of Rajasthan, was recorded the coldest place in the State at 2 degrees Celsius even as several places saw an increase of two-three notches in night temperatures.