Lucknow, Jan. 2 : As people in north India welcomed the first morning of the New Year with a smile on their face, people in Lucknow had a tough time coping with a chilling breeze and dense fog on Thursday.

The dipping temperature with chilling breeze and fog made life too difficult for everyone here.

On Thursday (Jan. 1), local residents in Lucknow braved the chill in the air covered in thick woolens. Some of them opted fighting it by huddling around roadside bonfires.

"We faced a lot of difficulty specially in moving around," said Samul Khan, a local resident.

Temperature has plummeted in almost entire north India and the Meteorological Department has predicted that this weather is likely to persist for the next couple of days.

According to the meteorological department, the temperature recorded at 8.2 degree Celsius, is expected to fall in the days to come.

"Till recently, we have seen the fog disappearing with the coming of the sun. But today it got stagnated in the sky. Tomorrow, we are expecting it to get thin. And so the temperature is likely to drop further," said J. P. Gupta, Director of the meteorological department. (ANI)