SRINAGAR: Night temperature rose above the freezing point in Srinagar on Monday as the Met Department has forecast a drop in minimum temperatures during the next few days in Jammu and Kashmir.

An Department official said the minimum temperature was 0.5 degrees Celsius in Srinagar on Monday as it was minus 8 in Gulmarg and minus 5.8 in Pahalgam.

Leh town in Ladakh region had minus 12.2, Kargil minus 11.1 and Drass minus had minus 12.5 as the minimum temperature on Monday.

Jammu city had 6.1, Katra 6.5, Batote 1.7, Bhaderwah minus 0.2 and Banihal 3.4 as the night’s lowest temperature, an official of the Met Department said.

The 40-day long period of harsh winter cold known locally as the ‘Chillai Kalan’ begins each year on December 21 and ends on January 30.