Shimla, Jan 5 (IANS): It's better to be in the Himachal hills these days than in the plains. Life in the plains of northern India has come under a shroud of fog, while the sun is regularly shining in Himachal Pradesh.

"It's sunnier and warmer here. We are basking in the sun after a long time," said Deepak Ahuja, a tourist from Chandigarh. "Even the nights are pleasant here compared to Chandigarh's chill," Ahuja's wife Shveta added.

The weather conditions in Himachal towns like Shimla, Kasauli, Chail, Kufri, Dharamsala and Manali are sunny and perfect for a break from the biting chill of the plains, where the sun has largely been fogged out.

Manmohan Singh, director of Shimla's meteorological department, told IANS Saturday that the hill stations in the state have a more pleasant weather owing to more sunshine compared to the plains.

"The maximum temperature (in the Himachal hills) is high due to prevailing dry weather and no foggy conditions," he said.

According to Singh, humidity level of 70 percent or more causes fog. In the plains, he said, it is almost 100 percent. However, in the hills it's between 30 and 40 percent.

He said the dry weather conditions would continue in the state in the next few days.

In Shimla, which is located around 7,000 feet above sea level, the maximum temperature Friday was 12.5 degrees Celsius, 2.1 degrees above average.

The maximum temperature in Dharamsala, the seat of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, was 18.2 degrees Celsius Friday, 3.3 degrees above average, whereas popular tourist resort Manali, where nearby hills are wrapped up in white blanket, saw a high of 9.8 degrees.

However the maximum temperature was 8.4 degrees Celsius in Chandigarh, 8.2 degrees in Punjab's Amritsar, and 8.2 degrees in Haryana's Ambala town. In Delhi, the maximum temperature is hovering around 15 degrees Celsius.

In the plains, the Met official said, the day temperatures were 10-13 degrees below the season's average.

According to the Met Office in Chandigarh, Friday was the coldest day in the city in the last one decade with the maximum temperature rising to just 8.4 degrees Celsius.

However, night temperatures are a little lower in the Himachal hills than the plains. Saturday's minimum temperature was 0.6 degrees Celsius in Shimla, 5.2 degrees in Dharamsala and -1.8 degrees in Manali.

Delhi's minimum temperature Saturday settled at 2.9 degrees Celsius -- four notches below the average, while it was four degrees each in Chandigarh and Amritsar.