Winter chill continues to grip Bengal

Kolkata, Jan 8 : The winter chill firmly held its clutch on Bengal as the cold weather continue to persist in Kolkata and other parts of the state on Monday.

While the temperature soared a little higher compared to Sunday when the mercury had dropped to the season's lowest at a number of places in the state, the thick fog and cold wave continued even on Monday delaying several trains and flights that inconvenienced the passengers.

Forecast by the regional meteorological department said that the cold condition would continue at least for the next three days in parts of sub-Himalayan as well as Gangetic West Bengal.

In Kolkata, minimum temperature dropped to 10.5 degrees Celsius, three notches below the normal, coupled with a strong wind throughout the day.

Jalpaiguri district of sub-Himalayan West Bengal was affected by severe cold wave as the recorded lowest night temperature fell to 3.8 degrees Celsius in the last 24 hours which was six notches below the normal. Another north Bengal district Cooch Behar closely followed at 3.9 degrees.

Covered by a thick veil of fog, Malda district shivered throughout the day as the maximum and minimum temperature were at least five degrees lower than normal.

In Gangetic West Bengal, Birbhum district's Sriniketan recorded 6.8 degrees while mercury in Nadia's Krishnanagar and Baharampur in Murshidabad dropped to 7.8 degrees and 7 degrees respectively.