LUCKNOW, Jan. 1 -- Lucknowites may welcome 2026 with a little relief from the biting cold, as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted some rise in temperatures across the state from Friday. On New Year's Day, the city is likely to see daytime temperatures climb, offering a respite from the frosty start to the season. In a social media post, India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, "Till the morning of January 1, dense to very dense fog is expected across many regions. However, U.P. may expect partial relief from dense fog and biting cold thereafter." Although dense fog is likely to continue in the state till January 1 - especially in Deoria, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Maharajganj and Siddharthnagar, its intensity is likely to reduce in large parts of Western Uttar Pradesh from the first day of the new year and in Eastern Uttar Pradesh from January 2 due to the increased atmospheric instability caused by the active western disturbances. Furthermore, light rainfall is expected in some parts of the northwestern region of the state on January 1, and a gradual increase in temperature by 3 to 5degC on average is expected over the next 3-4 days. This will likely lead to a weakening of cold day conditions in the state from January 1. Lucknow may experience dense fog during late night/ early morning hours and mainly clear skies later becoming partly cloudy on New Year's Day. The maximum and minimum temperatures may be around 19 and 9 degree Celsius. On Wednesday, the maximum and minimum temperatures in Lucknow were recorded at 16.9 degrees and 8 degrees Celsius. At 4.6 degrees Celsius, Kanpur city was the coldest, with temperatures plunging 3.5 degrees below normal there. The weather was no better in Barabanki, which experienced 4.8 degrees (three notches below normal); Shahjahanpur (5.9), Churk (6) and Hardoi (6.5) also shivered in extreme cold....