Shimla, Shimla on Wednesday witnessed snowflakes, the season’s first, pushing down the mercury by several notches.

“Shimla and its nearby areas received intermittent snowflakes that started in the afternoon,” an official of the meteorological office told IANS here.

He said high-altitude areas of Lahaul and Spiti, Chamba and Kullu experienced snow since Tuesday.

The Met has forecast dry weather across state till December 26, when western disturbances — storm systems originating from the Caspian Sea and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region — would be active in the region.

The minimum temperature in Shimla was minus 0.2 degree Celsius.

Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district was the coldest place in the state with a minimum temperature of minus 9.9 degrees Celsius.

Kalpa in Kinnaur district saw a low of minus 4.4 degrees Celsius while it was 5.4 degrees in Dharamsala and minus 2.6 degrees in Manali.