Wet spell of winter: Snow blanket covers Kashmir, thunderstorm in Delhi      

Snow in the hill states and rain in the plains on Tuesday carried north India into a damper phase of the winter, with the national capital recording the wettest January in four years and the white blanket of snow in Kashmir disrupting air and road traffic.

Delhi recorded its highest rainfall for the month since 2022 as heavy rain and thunderstorms battered parts of the national capital on Tuesday. With the latest spell of rain, the city's monthly total rainfall for January rose to 24 mm.

In Kashmir, fresh snow across the region on Tuesday led to the closure of the Jammu-Srinagar national highway. Officials said the arterial National Highway 44 was closed due to snow accumulation near the Navyug tunnel at Qazigund and Banihal.

As many as 60 people, including 40 soldiers of a Rashtriya Rifles unit, were rescued by the Border Roads Organisation after they were stranded in a snowbound area in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district, a defence spokesman said.

At Srinagar International Airport, all 58 scheduled flights -- 29 arrivals and 29 departures -- were cancelled. Authorities said continuous snow rendered the runway unsafe for operations.

Most parts of Kashmir received fresh overnight snow as a western disturbance affected the region. The plains of the valley, including Srinagar, recorded light to moderate snow, while the higher reaches received moderate to heavy falls.

The snow turned tourist resorts of Sonamarg, Gulmarg and Pahalgam into winter wonderlands, the officials said.

While the rail services have also been affected, as a few trains between Banihal and Budgam were cancelled due to the accumulation of snow along the track, the operations resumed after a couple of hours, the officials said.

The meteorological department has said light rain or snow is also possible at a few places on Wednesday, it said.

In Himachal Pradesh, the higher reaches are likely to receive heavy snow and rain, the meteorological centre in Shimla said.

It has issued an orange warning for Kullu, Chamba, Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti districts.

Meanwhile, the higher reaches of the state witnessed light snow till Tuesday morning.

Gondla village in Lahaul and Spiti received 22 centimetres of snowfall, the highest in the state.

Tabo village in Lahaul and Spiti recorded a minimum temperature of minus 8.9 degrees Celsius, making it the coldest place in the state.

Fresh snow occurred in the high-altitude areas of Uttarakhand as well, marking the second such spell in the state in the past few days.

Intermittent snow has been continuing since Monday night in Chamoli district's Badrinath and in Kedarnath and the surrounding peaks in Rudraprayag district.

Snow has also been reported from the high peaks of Bandarpunch and other mountains in Uttarkashi district.

Cloudy conditions prevailed in Gangotri and Yamunotri and surrounding areas in Uttarkashi district, while the weather remained dry in Dehradun and other plains areas.

The national capital, meanwhile, woke up to grey skies, with the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issuing a red alert in the morning for several parts of the city, warning of thunderstorms, gusty winds and the possibility of hail.

At Safdarjung, considered Delhi's base station, the maximum temperature settled at 16.9 degrees Celsius, 5.2 degrees Celsius below normal, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 8 degrees Celsius, 0.4 degrees Celsius below normal.

In Rajasthan, light to moderate rain lashed parts of the state in the morning, with the weather office predicting hailstorms at isolated places.

The lowest minimum temperature was recorded in Alwar at 4.5 degrees Celsius, it said.