Residents of New Delhi, who experienced the coldest day in 70 years Sunday with the minimum temperature at 0.2 degrees Celsius (32.36 degrees Fahrenheit), found little respite Monday.

The temperature was a slightly warmer 1.4 degrees Celsius overnight but freezing winds kept most people shivering and huddled around electric heaters or bonfires.

The city's estimated 150,000 homeless face even more misery as the weather office has warned the big chill will continue.

The northern provinces of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have all been gripped by the cold wave, weather office officials said, with the number of deaths linked directly to the cold nearing 150.

The Sikh pilgrimage town of Amritsar at 0.4 degrees Celsius was the coldest place in Punjab state overnight, while Churu in Rajasthan recorded a low of minus three degrees Celsius.

The frigid conditions are giving Punjab farmers sleepless nights. "I am worried the frost will damage (wheat) crops," one farmer told NDTV news channel.

According to the weather office in New Delhi, the severe cold spell is due to icy westerly winds over the Himalayas. "This is causing snowfall in Kashmir and freezing conditions in the plains," weather official R.D. Singh told Aaj Tak news channel.

R.K Pachauri, chairman of India's inter-government panel on Climate Change, warned that the exceptional cold may not be just an anomaly.

"The extreme weather conditions will set in further all over the world. Worse days lie ahead," Pachauri told NDTV.

Parts of Indian Kashmir, experiencing heavy snowfall for many days, have been without power for almost a week after the main transmission line snapped in heavy snow.

The low temperatures have caused Indian Kashmir's famous Dal lake to freeze -- presenting a delightful picture for the many winter tourists visiting the region.

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