LUCKNOW, Jan. 6 -- The cold wave intensified in Uttar Pradesh after a sharp drop in minimum temperatures across many districts on Monday. Etawah recorded its coldest night in five years (for January) as the mercury plummeted to 2.4 degrees Celsius, which was 4.1 notches below normal while Bahraich recorded its coldest night in eight years at 3 degrees, which was 6.2 degrees below normal. In January 2021, Etawah recorded its coldest night when the temperature was 1.2 degrees while Bahraich recorded its lowest minimum temperature for January in 2018 at 2.2 degrees. Gorakhpur at 5 degrees, Sultanpur 5.4 degrees and Azamgarh 5.6 degrees were also among five cities where the temperature dropped sharply, the weather office said. "Due to a significant drop in minimum temperatures across the state over the past 48 hours, the intense cold from evening to morning has been accompanied by reduced fog, leading to sunshine during the day," said Atul Kumar Singh, senior scientist at Lucknow Met office. "Following the passage of the Western Disturbance, the influence of cold and dry northwesterly/westerly winds from the snow-covered mountainous regions has resulted in a significant drop in minimum temperatures across the state over the past 48 hours," he added. "Consequently, minimum temperatures in many parts of the state remain considerably below normal, and the intense cold from evening to morning is likely to continue for the next few days with only minor fluctuations. "However, the reduction in the density, extent and duration of fog has led to sunshine in many areas during the day, significantly improving the cold day conditions and providing relief, which is expected to continue and gradually increase," he said. "Further reduction in fog density and an increase in temperatures are expected after the next two days, leading to further improvement in the cold conditions," he said. Lucknow was relatively better as the city experienced sunshine since morning. The day and night temperatures rose to 18.6 and 8.4 degrees Celsius, respectively. The forecast for Tuesday is shallow/moderate fog during late night/morning hours and clear sky later. The day and night temperatures will be around 20 and 8 degrees, respectively. The weather is most likely to remain dry over the state. Warning: Dense to very dense fog is likely at a few places over east Uttar Pradesh and at isolated places over west Uttar Pradesh. Dense fog enveloped several cities of UP reducing visibility and affecting air traffic and vehicular movement. Several trains were also hit by the fog. Gorakhpur (IAF) and Azamgarh saw zero visibility, Varanasi (airport) and Kanpur IAF 100 metres, Lucknow 150m and Prayagraj 400 metres....