Jalandhar/Chandigarh (PTI): Piercing cold swept Adampur in Jalandhar on Tuesday which recorded its worst ever minimum at minus 5 degrees Celsius breaking its 35 year old record as icy winds froze most of Punjab and Haryana.

The last time Adampur had been close to being this cold was on January 6, 1972 when it registered a minimum temperature of minus 5.2 degrees Celsius, the Met sources said. On Monday, Adampur had recorded a low of minus 3.6 C and last year its worst minimum was minus 4.6 degrees Celsius. Amritsar also came under the spell of intense cold recording its coldest night of the season at minus 2.4 degrees Celsius, six degrees below normal range.

Patiala shivered at 0.8 degrees celsius, its coldest night of the year so far, which was also down six degrees than normal. Ludhiana had no respite either at 1 degrees Celsius, down five degrees while Halwara recorded a low of minus 0.4 C. Bathinda shivered at a low of 0.2 C and Pathankot, too, had a cold night at 2.2 C.

The minimum at Chandigarh dropped to 1.6 C, four below normal and a few degrees down from yesterday's low of 4 C. Karnal in Haryana also registered its coldest night in a decade at minus 0.3 degrees Celsius, down seven degrees. Narnaul was ice cold at 0.5 C, down four while Ambala shivered at 1.2 C, six below normal. Hisar had no respite either at 3.3 C, down by three degrees.

Shimla was also going through its worst cold spell in many years and the low there climbed slightly from Monday's minus 2.2 C to minus 0.6 C, which was still three below normal. The Met office has predicted that temperatures are likely to rise by Thursday as a Western Disturbance was building over the region.