LUCKNOW, Jan. 25 -- The state capital and several parts of Uttar Pradesh experienced rain in the early hours of Saturday following which the early morning temperature increased significantly due to cloud cover, a Met official said. "With a minimum temperature of 15.4 degrees Celsius, last night (Friday night) was not only the warmest night in the district in seven years after 2019 but was warmest across the state during the past 24 hours," said Atul Kumar Singh, a senior scientist at the Lucknow Met office. "This (January 23) was the fourth warmest January night in Lucknow's observational history equalling what it was on January 30, 2019. The other three warmest nights recorded in Lucknow in January were 21.8 degrees on January 4, 2005, 16.2 degrees on January 22, 2019, and 15.5 degrees on January 31, 2005, an analysis of available climate data reveals," Singh said. The maximum temperature in Lucknow was 25.1 degrees Celsius on Saturday. The forecast for Sunday is shallow fog/mist in the morning and mainly clear sky later. The maximum and minimum temperature will be around 24 and 11 degrees Celsius, respectively. With the weakening of a well-marked low-pressure area over northern Pakistan, a rapid drop of 3 to 6degC in minimum temperatures is expected during the next 48 hours, the Weatherman said. Subsequently, due to the influence of an upcoming active Western Disturbance, widespread rainfall is likely in many parts of the state on January 27-28, and during this period, a rapid increase of 3 to 5degC in minimum temperatures is again expected. Until now, Lucknow had been witnessing a trend of low minimum temperatures this month due to the absence of cloud cover. This month alone-within a span of eight days-the minimum temperature rose by 11 degrees Celsius. Lucknow recorded the lowest minimum temperature of 4.4 degrees on January 17 and the highest minimum temperature at 15.4 degrees on January 24. The IMD officials attributed the rise in the minimum temperature to the presence of clouds in the region under the influence of a western disturbance. Clouds trap some of the outgoing infrared radiation and radiate it back downward, warming the ground, an official said. Bahraich remained the warmest district as mercury soared to 26.6 degrees Celsius, with Lakhimpur Kheri and Churk recording 25.4 degrees Celsius. Fatehgarh (Farrukhabad) recorded a maximum of 10 mm rainfall, Palliakalan in Lakhimpur Kheri 7.2 mm, Fatehpur Tehsil and Ramnagar in Barabanki, Kanpur City 4 mm, Katraniaghat in Bahraich 3.8 mm. Comparatively, the state capital received a less amount of rain. Mohanlalganj in Lucknow 2.8 mm, Malihabad in Lucknow 2.5 mm and the Lucknow city received 1.3 mm rainfall. Agra, Bareilly, Shahjahanpur, Najibabad, Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Aligarh, Sarsawa, Hardoi, Lakhimpur Kheri and Bahraich districts experienced bit of thunderstorm and dustorm while Kanpur, Faraukhabad districts experienced strong winds....