Cold may grip Himachal again with heavy rain forecast

Shimla: Cold is likely to grip Himachal Pradesh again with heavy rain forecast in the next two days by the Met office on Monday.

"Some areas in the state are likely to experience rainfall or thunderstorms with squall or hail from February 28," a Meteorological Department official said.

He said chances of heavy rainfall and snowfall likely to occur in the districts of Chamba, Kangra, Kullu, Mandi, Shimla and Lahaul-Spiti on March 1.

The Met department's forecast said the western disturbances -- storm systems originating from the Mediterranean Sea and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region -- would remain active in the region till March 1.

Meanwhile, Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti district was the coldest town in the state with a low of minus 5.1 degrees Celsius.

The minimum temperature in Shimla was 8.2 degrees, while it was 1.8 degrees in Manali and 11.2 degrees in Dharamsala. Shimla saw a high of 16.6 degrees.