The cold wave sweeping north India has claimed 28 more lives in Uttar Pradesh over the past 24 hours.

"With this, the toll in Uttar Pradesh has risen to 261," an official spokesman said on Sunday.

Local Met office chief, R KVerma, said: "Even though tempratures have risen marginally, chilly winds sweeping through the state have contributed to fresh deaths."

Thick fog continued to envelope most parts of the state, throwing normal life out of gear. Several flights were either running behind schedule or were cancelled. Trains too were running up to 20 hours late.

A senior railway manager said the delays had caused major problems for ticketing/reservation departments.

The state road transport corporation has suspended nearly 25 per cent of its services. “The passenger inflow has come down drastically, so there was no point in running all our buses,” the state road transport chief Sanjay Agarwal said.

District magistrates have been advised by the state administration to hold meetings with principals of various schools to review the earlier order on closure of schools till January 12.