Winter chill back in UP, rain likely till Thursday  

 Uttar Pradesh is now gearing up for a fourth spell of winter rain and chill, according to the Met as several parts of the state are expected to witness rain and thundershowers on Tuesday afternoon that will make the mercury to dip.

Fresh Western Disturbances and snowfall in the upper Himalayan regions will bring moderate to heavy rainfall in northwest and west Uttar Pradesh till Thursday.

Heavy rainfall has been forecast for districts, including Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Bareilly, Moradabad, Rampur, Shahjahanpur, Lakhimpur, Bahraich, Gonda, and Gorakhpur; while Varanasi, Banda, Kanpur, Hamirpur and Jhansi are expected to get light showers in the next 72 hours.

It was cold and dry in Uttar Pradesh on Monday as Lucknow recorded a minimum of 7.5 degrees Celsius, and a maximum of 24.8 degrees.

Bahraich and Kanpur were the coldest places in the state where the minimum temperatures settled at 4.4 degrees Celsius.

Uttar Pradesh has already witnessed three spells of rain and freezing temperatures earlier this month, making this one of the coldest winters in recent years.

The state has also recorded rain excess by almost 156 per cent between January 1 and 26.-IANS