Cold snap fuels festive tourist rush in Munnar

Plunging temperatures and frost-laced mornings have triggered a sharp surge in Christmas-New Year tourist arrivals to Munnar in Kerala's Idukki district, stretching local infrastructure and clogging arterial roads for hours as visitors converge on the hill station for winter views and seasonal festivities.

- HD Bureau

Chenduvarai logged the lowest reading at minus 1℃ on Saturday, December 27, 2025, underscoring the intensity of the cold spell gripping the higher reaches. Data collated by the United Planters Association of South India Tea Research Foundation showed Letchmi at 2℃ and Silent Valley at 3℃, while Sevenmallay's earlier seasonal low of minus 1℃ on December 20 remained matched.

The sharp dip has brought thick frost across tea gardens at daybreak, a draw for tourists unaccustomed to subzero conditions in the Western Ghats.