NEW DELHI: A thick blanket of fog enveloped Delhi on Sunday morning, affecting about 100 flights even as visibility dropped to 50 metres at Indira Gandhi International Airport.

The minimum temperature in the national capital settled at 6.4ºC, a notch below normal. Humidity was recorded at 97% while visibility stood at 400 metres, said a senior official from the MeT department. Skies cleared up during the day, and shallow to dense fog is likely on Monday morning.

While 54 domestic flights were delayed and 17 diverted to other airports, eleven international flights were delayed and eight were diverted due to the dense fog, according to flight information available on the airport’s website.

There were four cancellations, including three domestic and one international flight, according to the information.

RK Jenamani, director of IMD (Delhi area) and IGI airport, said, “This is so far the worst fog we have experienced this year.”

Delhi airport has advanced technology for low-visibility landings, called CAT IIIB. As a result landings can take place with a visibility of 50 metres. However, for take-offs a minimum visibility of 125 metres is required.

In several parts of northern India, at least 15 trains were cancelled, 57 delayed and 18 rescheduled due to fog.

The maximum temperature on Sunday is likely to hover around 22 and minimum at 6ºC. Saturday’s minimum temperature recorded at 7.2ºC while the maximum temperature settled at 22.6ºC, two notches above the season’s average.

In Punjab and Haryana, cold wave conditions further intensified at many places, with Adampur recording a minimum temperature of 2.3ºC.

Adampur was the coldest place in Punjab and Hisar, which recorded a minimum temperature of 3.4ºC, was the coldest place in Haryana, an official of MeT Department said.

Hill stations across Himachal Pradesh experienced sunny conditions on the last day of 2017, a weather official said. However, temperatures were close to the freezing point at several places.

“Dry weather to prevail in the state till Jan.4,” an official at the meteorological office said.

In Shimla, a bright, sunny but bone-chilling will dash the hopes of revellers to celebrate the last day of the year amidst snow. Likewise, other popular destinations like Kufri, Narkanda, Chail, Kasauli, Dharamsala, Palampur, Dalhousie and Manali too are totally devoid of snow.

Agencies