By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Dec. 19: The Kathmandu Valley recorded the coldest day of the year on Wednesday while life in the Terai districts across the nation was affected by cold wave, forcing people to make fire to keep them warm.
The Valley’s minimum temperature dropped to 3.5 degree Celsius this morning, and many denizens were seen standing by the fire on the streets.
Senior Meteorologist Min Kumar Aryal at the Meteorological Forecasting Division (MFD) said that the minimum temperature in Kathmandu is expected to go down further in the coming days.
Jumla recorded the lowest temperature among all the districts at minus 6.5 degree Celsius on Wednesday.
Minimum temperature in the Terai region has also gone down as most of the regions remained under thick fog with cold wave in many of the Terai districts, said Meteorologist Aryal.
The eastern and the central Terai regions from Tuesday evening were under dense fog and they will continue to face cold wave until Thursday afternoon, according to Aryal.
The MFD has categorised Kailali, Kanchanpur, Banke, Bardiya, Dang, Kapilvastu, Rupandehi and Nawalpur in the western Terai, Chitwan, Parsa, Bara, Sarlahi, Dhanusha and Parasi in central Terai and Mahottari, Siraha, Saptari, Sunsari, Morang and Jhapa in eastern Terai.
Meanwhile, according to our district correspondents, cold wave in the Terai region has crippled normal life, with State 5 facing the worst condition.
According to State 5 bureau in Butwal, life in State 5 was affected by chilling cold due to cold wave throughout Wednesday.
Minimum temperature of Nepalgunj was measured at 11.5 degree Celsius on Wednesday morning, according to field office of MFD and in-charge Pal Bahadur B.K. Cold wave situation has been continuing in the region since Monday.
Movements of people and vehicles in the roads of Nepalgunj have declined due to cold wave since Monday. The situation was no different in Bhairahawa. Moreover, hospitals in Rupandehi district received inflow of patients suffering from cold-induced diseases.
Flights in Bhirahawa and Nepalgunj airports were affected due to bad weather condition. Fights to hilly regions from these airports came to a complete halt.
Freezing cold has badly affected normal life also in Sarlahi district. Mainly the poor families and landless squatters were affected by the biting cold. Minimum temperature in the district dropped from Tuesday. Cold wave has also crippled normal life in Bara and Mahottari districts.
Locals in Saptari have also failed to see the sun for the past three days. Mobility of general public and service seekers were low in the public places and government offices.
Children, old-age people and poor were mainly affected from the severe cold.
Locals were not getting firewood to keep them warm although the freezing cold started affecting them, Sukadev Ram, a local of Rajbiraj said.
According Rajbiraj Municipality chief Sambhu Prasad Yadav, they do not have any other specific plans except for providing firewood in the severe cold affected regions. Yadav said that they had been coordinating with the local community forest users’ groups and the government forest offices for managing firewood to the locals.
However, local bodies in Bara have managed firewood in its 16 local bodies, according to Mahagadhimai Municipality Deputy Mayor Tara Devi Kanu.