Kashmir reels under sub-zero temperatures as mercury hits minus four degrees

Srinagar:  Kashmir continued to reel under sub-zero night temperatures as the mercury settled on the freezing point in Srinagar late on Sunday, officials said.Several areas in Kashmir were engulfed by a layer of fog on Monday morning as the mercury went below the freezing point, they added.Srinagar recorded a low of zero degree Celsius -- up from minus 0.9 degrees Celsius the previous night.The officials said Pahalgam, which serves as the base camp for the annual Amarnath Yatra, recorded a low of minus 4 degrees Celsius, the coldest in Kashmir.Gulmarg in north Kashmir's Baramulla district recorded a minimum temperature of minus 1.6 degrees Celsius. The mercury at Kupwara in north Kashmir too settled at a low of minus 1.6 degrees Celsius.Qazigund, the gateway town to the valley, recorded a minimum temperature of minus 1.2 degrees Celsius, while Kokernag town in the south recorded a low of 0.4 degrees Celsius.The wintry conditions in Kashmir have set in much ahead of the beginning of the extreme harsh weather conditions, which usually start around the third week of December."Chillai Kalan", the 40-day period of harsh winter in Kashmir, begins on December 21 every year.The meteorological department has said the weather is most likely to remain dry till November 20.