KATHMANDU: Winter chill has gripped the Kathmandu Valley as mercury continues to plummet, thanks to the westerly winds.

The Capital endured its coldest day of the winter so far with temperatures falling to 0.4°C in the wee hours of Saturday morning, as the Nepali month of Poush ended and Magh began.

The minimum temperature, officially recorded by Nepal's Meteorological Forecasting Division at 3 am today, was 0.8°C lesser than yesterday's reading. The maximum temperature recorded on the day time was 16.6°C.

Forecasters at the MFD have expected temperatures would remain 0-2°C tonight as the cold snap would remain for some more days with possibility of mercury going further down.

According to the MFD, the western region would remain generally cloudy and the eastern and central hills partly cloudy tonight. The rest of the country would witness fair sky, on the other hand.

Isolated brief rain is likely to occur at one or two places of the western region, and there are chances of light snowfall at a some places of the western high mountainous region, the MFD said in its forecast.

With the official onset of winter in mid-November, temperatures, by and large, have gradually dropped.