Severe cold and fog continued to grip the national capital on Wednesday, hampering train and flight services. Hundreds of passengers were stranded at railway stations and Indira Gandhi International Airport.
With the minimum temperature falling to 10 degrees Celcius, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned that adverse weather conditions, including dense to very dense fog, will prevail over isolated pockets of the region. The city is also likely to receive light rain during the day. Light rain or thundershower accompanied by gusty winds with a speed of up to 30-40 kmph is likely towards the evening or night.
Besides Delhi, fog conditions disrupted daily life in Punjab, Haryana, parts of east Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha too. "Moderate fog was reported in isolated pockets of west Uttar Pradesh and coastal Andhra Pradesh," the IMD said on X.
The IMD also predicted a wet spell over the Western Himalayan Region and adjoining plains till February 4, with the intensity peaking on Wednesday and Thursday. "Light/moderate fairly widespread to widespread rainfall/snowfall very likely over Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit, Baltistan & Muzaffarabad, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand during next 6 days (30th January to 04th February) and decrease significantly thereafter," the IMD posted on X.
Weather fluctuations are expected to continue till February 3 because of a western disturbance, with further changes anticipated from thereon, a senior official said
Meanwhile, zero visibility was reported at the Indira Gandhi Airport at 6.30 am as a thick layer of fog engulfed the area. The visibility remained the same till 9 am, they said. The Delhi airport saw diversions of at least three flights on Wednesday morning due to bad weather, an official said.
Due to the "very dense" fog, several trains were running late, another official said.
Meanwhile, the Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded in the 'very poor' category with a reading of 370 at 8 am. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.
