Lucknow,

26 Dec (HS): Cold and fog continue to wreak havoc in Uttar Pradesh. Due to a

thick blanket of fog on Thursday morning, visibility became zero in many cities

including the capital Lucknow, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar,

Saharanpur, Ballia, Moradabad, Aligarh. There was a big drop in temperature in

many cities on Thursday night and Meerut was the coldest night with a minimum

temperature of 5.8 degrees. The Meteorological Department has issued an orange

alert for dense fog in about 30 districts of the state for Friday.

Atul

Kumar Singh, a senior scientist at the Regional Meteorological Center, Lucknow,

stated that the cold and fog will continue in Uttar Pradesh for the next four

days. Snowfall in the mountains and the westerly winds has increased the cold

in Uttar Pradesh. He added that while daytime temperatures will remain largely

unchanged, nighttime temperatures will gradually drop. Sunshine is also

expected in many districts of the state in the afternoon.

There

is an orange alert for dense fog in these districts: Kaushambi, Prayagraj,

Fatehpur, Pratapgarh, Mirzapur, Bhadohi, Jaunpur, Deoria, Gorakhpur, Sant Kabir

Nagar, Basti, Kushin Nagar, Maharajganj, Siddharth Nagar, Gonda, Balrampur,

Shravasti, Bahraich, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur, Kanpur Nagar, Barabanki, Rae

Bareli, Amethi, Ayodhya, Saharanpur, Bijnor, Moradabad, Rampur, Bareilly,

Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur and surrounding areas. Extremely cold days are expected

in Jaunpur, Bahraich and Sitapur.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi