Shimla, Dec 24 (IANS): It was sunny on Monday but most parts of Himachal Pradesh still experienced intense cold weather and Shimla shivered at 1.8 degrees Celsius, the season's lowest.

The Met office forecast long sunny days with no snowfall on Christmas anywhere in the state.

Most of the prominent tourist towns like Shimla, Narkanda, Kufri, Dharamsala, Palampur, Manali and Dalhousie, located in mid-hills, have been witnessing sunny days, the weatherman told IANS.

Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district was the coldest in the state with a minimum temperature of minus 7.3 degrees Celsius, while it was minus 3 degrees in Kalpa in Kinnaur district, minus 2.8 in Manali, 6.2 degrees in Dharamsala and 2.1 in Dalhousie.

Despite dry weather with no chance of snowfall, excited holidaymakers, mainly from the northern states, have already started arriving at the tourist resorts across the state to celebrate Christmas.

The mountain peaks viewed from Shimla's historic Ridge have been wrapped in a thick white blanket of snow.

Popular resort Manali is getting a good share of tourists as its nearby hills have plenty of snow.