Shimla, Dec 1 (IANS): While thick fog lay heavy on the plains of northern India, it was yet another sunny day in the hills of Himachal Pradesh with a marginal rise in the temperature on Thursday owing to prolonged sunny conditions, the Met Office here said.

It forecast no rain or snowfall in the state till this weekend.

"What a sunny weather in Shimla these days," said Arpit Duggal, a tourist from Delhi. "A great relief here compared to the prevailing foggy weather in the plains," his wife Radhika added.

Most of the prominent tourist towns in Himachal Pradesh like Shimla, Narkanda, Kufri, Kasauli, Manali, Dharamsala and Dalhousie were witnessing long sunny days, the Met office said.

The state capital recorded a minimum temperature of eight degrees Celsius.

Kalpa in Kinnaur district recorded a low of 2.4 degrees, while it was 12.8 degrees at Dharamsala and four degrees in Manali.

Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti district was the coldest in the state with a low of 0.6 degree Celsius.