Srinagar city, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, witnessed the coldest night of this winter as mercury plunged four degrees below freezing point last night.
The minimum temperature recorded in Srinagar was minus 4 degrees Celsius last night, making it the coldest night of the season so far, an official of the MET department said.
He said Leh town in Ladakh region was the coldest recorded place in the state where mercury dipped to minus 17 degrees Celsius last night while nearby Kargil district recorded a low of minus 11.6 degrees Celsius.
Gulmarg skiing resort in north Kashmir recorded a minimum temperature of minus 7.6 degrees Celsius while Pahalgam in south Kashmir recorded a low of minus 7.4 degrees Celsius, the official said.
He said other weather observatories in the Valley recorded a low of around minus 4.0 degrees celsius.
While the minimum temperature is one degree below normal for this time of the year, the valley is witnessing unusually bright and sunny days.
The weatherman has forecast dry weather over the next couple of days with snowfall or rain expected on December 26.