Lucknow, Feb 5 (IANS): Incessant rain brought back the winter chill in most parts of Uttar Pradesh Tuesday. The weather department predicted more showers in the next two days.

The rains, with lightning and icy winds that began late Monday and continued Tuesday led to the mercury to plummeting. The minimum temperature recorded Tuesday morning in Lucknow was 4.7 degrees Celsius - six notches below normal.

In Kanpur it was 5.3 degrees Celsius, while Allahabad recorded 5.1 degrees Celsius.

With a heavy downpour in the state capital, western and central Uttar Pradesh, the Met office said "winter has returned for a while".

The rains were result of a westerly disturbance and the situation was likely to remain more or less the same for the next few days, said J.P. Gupta, regional Met director.

Several wedding functions slated for Monday night were hit.

The political events of Tuesday, including the arrival of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi to Amethi and newly appointed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh, to the city could also be hit.

Power cuts have been reported from many places as lines tripped due to the rainfall.

Vehicular traffic has also been hit and most people preferred to be indoors. Some schools were closed due to the weather.