Dense fog engulfed New Delhi on Thursday morning with visibility dropping to 50 metres at Palam affecting flight schedules at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, officials said.

The departure of flights at the Delhi airport was put on hold between 7.30 am to 9.30 am with eight flights diverted and many arrivals of many delayed.

At Safdarjung, which represents the condition in the city, the visibility dropped to 200m.

The night temperature was 6.7 degrees Celsius, which was three degrees below normal.

Watch | Temperature drops to 5ºC as cold wave clutches Delhi

The India Meteorological Department has forecast that Delhi could receive light rain and thundershower over the weekend because of a western disturbance.

“As the sky would become cloudy, the night temperature is expected to rise further and may touch 9 degrees by Sunday. The day temperature is likely to drop to around 18 degrees Celsius,” said a met official.

The met department has also forecast that moderate to dense fog could hit the city soon after the rains.

While December 2018 was the coldest December in 13 years, it also encountered the least number of foggy days in 22 years.

“Winter temperature in Delhi and north India is governed by western disturbances. In the last two weeks of December Delhi didn’t get a single western disturbance. Cold northwesterly winds dominated, as a result of which the mercury dropped to 2.6 degrees Celsius,” said a met official.

First Published: Jan 03, 2019 11:16 IST