Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and his Uttarkhand counterpart Trivendra Singh Rawat were stuck in Kedarnath for around nine hours because of snowfall and could not return to Lucknow and Dehradun respectively on Monday.

After waiting for the weather to improve since 7.30am, the chief ministers flew in two helicopters along with some of their officers and security personnel to Gauchar, 50km from Kedarnath.

Sources in the Uttarakhand government said they would be able to fly to Badrinath on Tuesday if the weather improved.

Adityanath had gone to Kedarnath on Sunday afternoon to worship in the Kedarnath temple and witness its closing ceremony on Monday morning. However, his chopper could not take off in the morning.

The Uttar Pradesh chief minister is supposed to lay the foundation stone of a tourist guesthouse in Badrinath before returning back to Lucknow.

The gate of the Badrinath temple is expected to close on November 19.

The Kedarnath and Badrinath temples in Rudraprayag and Chamoli districts respectively are being closed in winter because of snow. Even the residents leave the places and spend about five months in the plains before returning back to their homes in April.

While there was a rumour that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would attend the closing ceremony in Kedarnath, Adityanath’s programme was made public two days ago.