The waning of the chill is a temporary phenomenon caused by bright sunshine and does not signal an early withdrawal of winter, the weather office said on Monday.

The low humidity — which dipped to a minimum of 35 per cent on Monday — and the absence of low-pressure formations have resulted in clear skies and bright sunshine.

“The sunshine has been warming up the days. Late evenings, nights and early mornings are still quite cold. The situation is likely to persist for another two to three days,” said Gokul Chandra Debnath, the director of the Regional Meteorological Centre at Alipore.

“The warm days are not an indication that winter is bidding adieu to the city. The temperatures are still quite low and the chill will be restored once the flow of the cold, dry northwesterlies gains in strength,” Debnath added.

In fact, if the next few days remain sunny, the night temperature is likely to dip further.

The maximum temperature on Monday was normal at 27.1 degrees Celsius, while the minimum was two degrees below normal at 11.9.

Parts of north India and neighbouring states such as Bihar and Jharkhand are still in the grip of a cold wave.

“As long as north India and our neighbourhood remain cold, there is no reason for the chill to die out in the city and its adjoining areas,” the weatherman pointed out.

A fresh western disturbance is likely to impact the weather later this week, boosting the flow of northwesterlies.

“With a series of western disturbances and stronger flow of the cold, dry northwesterlies, the chill should be back in the later part of this week,” said a scientist at the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting in Noida.

Winter arrived in the city a fortnight earlier than usual on November 22. It usually leaves around February 20.