Shimla, Jan 7 - Temperatures in the mid-hills dipped even as the mercury stayed below the freezing point in the higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh Thursday, the Met office here said.

Temperatures across the state plummeted despite no fresh snowfall or rain in the past 24 hours, Manmohan Singh, director of the meteorological office, told IANS.

He said bright sunshine greeted the people in Shimla and the minimum temperature was recorded at 5.5 degrees Celsius, down from Wednesday's 9 degrees.

Similarly, Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district and Kalpa in Kinnaur district saw a low of minus 11.2 and minus 3.7 degrees, respectively.

In both these towns, the minimum was minus 11.8 and minus 4 degrees Wednesday.

Sundernagar in Mandi district had a low of 0.6 degrees, while it was 0.4 degrees at Bhuntar in Kullu district.

Dharamsala in Kangra district saw the night temperature at 3.5 degrees while it was 2 degrees at Una.

The Met office predicted dry weather across the state Friday.  (IANS)