The Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir was painted 'White' after a fresh spell of snowfall on Sunday. 

In Kashmir valley, the tourist hotspots of Gulmarg and Pahalgam along with Srinagar and other district headquarters including North Kashmir district of Kupwara witnessed moderate to heavy snowfall resulting in grounding of almost all the flights.

The traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway also remained suspended following heavy accumulation of snow near Jawahar Tunnel area.  Deputy Commissioner, Ramban in a tweet said, “ due to heavy snowfall and shooting stones at several locations traffic remains suspended. Public is advised to avoid travel on the highway”.

In Srinagar, barring one, all incoming and outgoing flights were cancelled due to poor visibility and accumulation of snow on the runway following light to moderate snowfall since early this morning,” a senior airport official said.

In Jammu region, the cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi, tourist resorts of Patnitop and hilly districts of Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban also witnessed snowfall. 

The Met department had already forecasted widespread snowfall in many areas of the valley on Sunday and Monday with heavy snowfall at isolated places. 

A Met department spokesperson said a fresh Western Disturbance (WD), which originated from the Arabian Sea and approached the region through Afghanistan and Pakistan, has hit the region on Saturday night.He said under the influence of the WD, light to moderate rain and snow is expected at most places in Kashmir and Zojila area of Ladakh for three days from Sunday. “Weather is expected to improve from Thursday onwards,” he added.

Meanwhile, Medium level (Yellow alert) avalanche warning for upper reaches of Poonch & Kishtwar districts and Low level (yellow alert) avalanche warning for upper reaches of Rajouri, Ramban, Doda, Anantnag, Kulgam, Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora & Kargil districts was issued by the Disaster Management Department.