Dense fog enveloped Delhi and the north and east India as visibility in many places dipped to zero on Sunday morning.
The minimum temperature in Delhi was recorded as 3.5 degrees Celsius, four degrees below normal for this time of the year and the lowest of the season so far. The city is currently in the grip of a cold wave, which is expected to continue till Monday, when the minimum temperature is expected to be 4 degrees Celsius.
The maximum temperature on Sunday is expected to be around 18 degrees Celsius.
The visibility at Palam and Safdarjung stations dipped to zero at 5 am and remained zero till 8.30 am. Hisar also saw visibility dipping to zero. The fog is expected to start lifting after 11.30 am.
It was zero in several other places in the country early in the morning, before seeing a slight improvement.
Very dense fog layer extends over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, North Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh (INSAT 3DR 0230 hrs IST Image).
Passengers on highways need to drive extremely carefully and only with fog lights. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/jXY35VXLJV
— India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) January 13, 2024
“This is the first time this winter season that zero visibility is being reported from Amritsar to Dibrugarh across Ganganagar, Patiala, Ambala, Chandigarh, Palam, Safdarjung, Bareilly, Lucknow, Bahraich, Varanasi, Prayagraj and Tejpur (Assam)… The fog cover extends over an area of more than 10 lakh square kilometres and a linear distance of 2350 kms – from Amritsar to Dibrugarh,” said a senior IMD official.
An orange alert was issued for Delhi, with the IMD and the Delhi Airport Authority urging all passengers to check timings of flights and trains with airlines and Indian Railways.
On X, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) issued a warning to passengers, asking them to contact their airlines for updated information.
Fog conditions observed (at 0530 hours IST of today): Very dense fog in isolated pockets of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Bihar, East U.P; Dense fog in isolated pockets of Jammu, Chandigarh, W.P, Assam and South Interior Karnataka; Moderate fog in Tripura, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu pic.twitter.com/1qbGIJUZNW
— India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) January 14, 2024
According to the Delhi Airport website several flights have been delayed. Flights arriving to Delhi from Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai and Ahmedabad were delayed by a few hours and a flight from Chandigarh was cancelled. Flights heading towards Aurangabad, Jaipur, Indore, Port Blair, Cochin and Coimbatore were also delayed.
International flights were also affected. Flights headed to Colombo, London, Sharjah, Amsterdam and Bangkok were delayed by a few hours. Similarly flights arriving from Jeddah, Sharjah, Istanbul, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Kuwait, Singapore and Nairobi were also delayed.
According to Flightradar24 – an online portal that tracks flights in real time around the world using satellite technology – Delhi airport saw a delay in 173 flights in departures and 77 flights in arrivals till 9 am on Sunday. According to the portal 31 flights have been cancelled.
Meanwhile the Northern Railways reported 22 trains being delayed in the Delhi area. The trains were headed to Delhi from various locations including Azamgarh, Amritsar, Puri, Kanpur, Saharsa, Rewa, Prayagraj, Rajendranagar, Ambedkarnagar, Pratapgarh, Indore, Vasco, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ferozpur, Bikaner, Katihar, Jammu, Kamakhya and Manikpur.