The hustle and bustle of everyday life in Kurigram came to a halt on Friday as a mild cold wave swept across the district.
Subal Chandra Sarkar, officer-in-charge of Kurigram Agricultural Meteorological Observatory said, the temperature dropped to 8.8 degrees Celsius in the district and may fall further in the coming days.
The temperature slowly drops as the sun remains elusive most of the time and fog begins to form as the day progresses towards the evening and it continues till noon the next day, locals said.
The cold wave is hitting children and elderly people of low-income families and the farmers hard.
Also, most of the day labourers are unable to go out for work due to the cold snap.
Many locals were seen trying to keep warm by burning tree branches and dry leaves as the temperature fell.
As the weather is getting colder, more people are getting admitted to hospitals with diarrhoea, pneumonia and cold-related diseases.
Kurigram General Hospital source said at least 800 to 900 people were taking treatment every day.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) said a mild cold wave was sweeping over Rangpur division and Tangail, Gopalgonj, Mymensingh, Srimangal, Rajshahi, Pabna, Naogaon, Jashore and Chuadanga and it may continue.
Moderate to thick fog may occur at places over the river basins of the country and light to moderate fog may occur elsewhere over the country from midnight until morning.
Weather will remain dry with a temporary partly cloudy sky over the country. Night and day temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country.