LUCKNOW, Feb. 1 -- The last day of January turned out to be colder than the New Year's Day in Lucknow and Kanpur where the maximum temperature plunged to 18.7 degrees Celsius (5.3 notches below normal) and 14.4 degrees Celsius (9.5 degrees below normal) respectively on Saturday. While Lucknow experienced a brief spell of drizzle around 8 am, Kanpur recorded the lowest day temperature in the state. By contrast, Lucknow had recorded a maximum temperature of 21 degrees Celsius (normal) on January 1 and Kanpur 19.9 degrees Celsius on New Year's Day. The minimum temperature in the state capital on January 1 was 7 degrees Celsius. On January 31, it was 8.8 degrees Celsius, as per an IMD bulletin. Kanpur recorded a minimum temperature of 9.7 degrees Celsius on January 31 and 5.6 degrees Celsius on January 1. The Sunday forecast for Lucknow is mainly clear sky becoming partly cloudy towards evening/night. The maximum and minimum temperature will be around 20 and 10 degrees Celsius respectively. In other parts of the state, the day temperature dropped sharply at several places - Bareilly 14.7 degrees Celsius (7.8 degrees below normal), Aligarh 14.6 degrees, Hardoi 15.5. Etawah 15.6, Meerut 16.2 degrees and Shahjahanpur 17.2 degrees. Following the passage of the previous active Western disturbance, the influx of cold and dry northwesterly winds from the snow-covered mountainous regions and increased atmospheric stability led to dense to very dense fog, resulting in a significant drop in temperatures across the state during the last 24 hours, the weatherman said. "The day temperatures were considerably below normal in almost all areas," explained Atul Kumar Singh, a senior scientist at the Lucknow met office on Saturday. Visibility dropped to 50 metres at the Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport. Visibility dropped to zero metres in Kanpur IAF, Bareilly IAF, Aligarh airport and Agra IAF. Light to moderate rain/thundershowers are very likely at a few places over West UP while very light to light rain is very likely at isolated places over East UP, according to the statewide forecast. The five UP districts that recorded lowest minimum temperatures on Saturday were: Hardoi 6.5 degrees , Muzaffarnagar 6.6 degrees, Meerut 6.8 degrees, Barabanki and Kanpur IAF 7 degrees celsius. Rainfall is expected in Uttar Pradesh during February 1 to 3 under the influence of a Western Disturbance centered around northern Pakistan, along with a 2 to 4degC rise in temperature and increased atmospheric instability, leading to a reduction in fog, according to IMD. Subsequently, a slight drop in temperature is expected again from February 4 onwards. The average monthly minimum temperature in a large part of the state is likely to be higher than normal during February with fewer cold wave days, according to IMD. Western UP received 31% above normal rainfall in January and it was 67% below normal in East UP. Overall, rainfall in U.P. was 26% below normal....