Shimla, Dec 25 (IANS): It was a sunny Thursday in Himachal Pradesh's popular tourist destinations of Shimla and Manali, but the minimum temperature stayed close to or below the freezing point, weather officials said.

The state capital Shimla, with the night temperature at 3.7 degrees Celsius, woke up to a sunny day.

Popular destination Manali, which also had a crystal-clear sky, recorded a low of minus 3 degrees Celsius.

According to a Met department official here, Shimla's nearby tourist spots such as Kufri, Fagu and Narkanda also experienced dry but cold weather.

Other picturesque tourist centre, Dalhousie in Chamba district, experienced a low of 4.6 degrees Celsius.

High-altitude areas of Lahaul and Spiti, Chamba, Mandi, Kullu, Kinnaur and Shimla districts have been experiencing temperatures below the freezing point, the official said.

Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti district was the coldest in the state with a low of 8.9 degrees below the freezing point.

It was minus 2.3 degrees Celsius in Kalpa, some 250 km from here, in Kinnaur district, while it was 5.2 degrees in Dharamsala.

The Met Office has forecast no snow or rain across the state till Dec 31.