New Delhi (PTI): After a brief respite, mercury on Tuesday plummeted again in large swathes of North India bringing back the chill which claimed four more lives as the death toll in the region this winter topped 70.

Dense fog, which did not surfaceon Monday after blinding the region for the past one week, engulfed many areas this morning throwing road, rail and air traffic askew.

Icy winds blew across Rajasthan dipping mercury by two to five notches as cold wave struck Punjab and Haryana again after a two-day respite.

Higher and mid hills in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand continue to shiver under freezing temperatures though no fresh snowing was reported from the two hilly states.

However, the national capital, which chilled out at four degree celsius last Friday, woke to a warmer but foggy morning with the minimum temperature hovering at 8.4 degrees, a notch above normal.

Lucknowites too heaved a sigh of relief with the day-time temperature soaring to 20 degrees celisus though all the fresh four fatalities occurred in Uttar Pradesh.