Lucknow, Jan 11 (IANS): Icy winds at many places in Uttar Pradesh intensified the cold wave in the state on Wednesday, with heavy snowfall in many parts of neighbouring Uttarakhand also contributing to the fall in mercury.

Despite bright sunshine from early in the day, icy winds have forced people to stay indoors, while weatherman has predicted similar weather conditions for the next few days.

Termed as the 'pacha' winds, the regional Met office said, these icy winds were carrying the winter bite from the hilly regions which have witnessed heavy snowfall over the past few days.

The morning temperature in the state capital has fallen by a drastic 6 degree Celsius, while the minimum temperature hovered around 8 degree Celsius. The maximum temperature was logged at 21.6 degrees on Tuesday. The skies are likely to remain clear in some parts of western UP.

As a result of poor visibility and fog in western UP, many trains have been delayed by hours, forcing some cancellations by the Northern Railways (NR).

The 15098 Amarnath Express, 14649 Saryu Yamuna Express, 13240 Kota-Patna Express, 13483 Farakka Express and the 14258 Kashi-Vishvanath Express have been cancelled for Wednesday, leading to inconvenience to hundreds of passengers.